Winter 2015 Swan Newsletter

· Hello Year 7 · Poland Trip · Luke Wright’s Poetry Party · Lest we forget · Musical Madness! · Art Alfresco · Media City · Careers Information Evening

· Hello Year 7 · Poland Trip · Luke Wright’s Poetry Party · Lest we forget · Musical Madness! · Art Alfresco · Media City · Careers Information Evening

AutumnTerm2015The SwanThe Swan

The Magazine of Christleton High School

Introducing the 2015-2016 H o u s e C a p t a i n s

Year 8

Nung Sirisot

Edward Dunford

Alicia Griffiths

Sam James

Jennifer Thompson

Nathan Adams

Archie Taylor

Erin Williams

Daniel Skinner

Maisie Lawson

Oliver Hynds

Year 7Zoe Finnagen

Jessica Trevor

Poppy Lewis

Cerys Wojtan

Rebecca Duffy

Fleur Mercer

Lola Latifa

Freya Doyle

Jayda Jones

Alexander Cotton

Amelia Williams

Sarah Hooper

Lucy Proctor

Grace Rose

Thomas Stubbert

Victoria Taylor

Olivia Russell

Molly Bowes

Jack Knight

Year 9Eliza Rose

Daniel RichardsLaura Roberts

Taryn-Olivia WalkerJohn Gornall

Hannah PiercyJude Jones

Gemma HemensEwan Bradley

Daisy Woolgar-BebbJames EllisonJosh DidsburyMegan Jones

Xsara ChallinorElla WoodSophie LeeBen Lyon

Will GoodwinHannah Thorley

Isabella FordCharlie Heard

Maddie MacDonald

Year 10Harry Corley

Tess Bowman

Eleanor Moulson

Paige Pedlow

Lizzie Glading

Arin Theard

Maddie Clerkin

Curie-Beth Woodard Lord

Ophelia Catherall-Davis

Grace Lindsay-Austin

James Richards

Brad Coppard

Fin Doyle

Jess Twigg

Arran Brearey

Maggie Corr

Caitlin Senior

Year 11

Joe Baldacchino

Bryn Heard

Sam Richards

Charlotte Hampton

Saul Duxbury

Mark Goldthorpe

Sarah Walters

Jasmine Prince

Lucy Joyce

Jess Dunning

Elle Roberts

Isabella Cornwell

Graeme Mochrie

Sophie Runciman

Emily Moore

The Swan - The Magazine from Christleton High School2

Introducing House Captains 2

Headteacher’s Report 4

Media City 6

Sixth Form Careers Conference 7

A Successful Operation! 8

Rethink Your Drink 9

Teenage Cancer Trust 9

Who Is It? 10

Electronic Products 10

On Yer Bike! 11

ChloBo 12

Sixth Form Fun Day 12

MFL Debating Competition 13

Flying High 13

Teacher’s Pet 13

Politics & Law Visit 14

Schoolcomms 15

GCHQ Visit Christleton 15

DoE Diary Dates 15

Hello Year 7 16

Lloyds Bank Work Experience 17

Year 7 Summer School 2015 18

Sixth Form Careers Conference 19

Hot Scholars French School Visit 19

FABLAB 20

Oliver’s Marvellous Machine 20

Places of Worship 21

Talk About a Revolution 22

Who Is It? 23

Sixth Form Leadership Teams 23

Art Hot Scholars Video Tutorials 23

Dove Self-Esteem Workshop 24

We Went to The Zoo 25

Wednesdays are Movie Days 25

Poland Visit 26

Unifrog 28

Is Photography Art? 28

Trash Trek Challenge 29

Onward Christleton Soldiers 29

Nesscliffe 2015 30

Honouring Our Fallen Heroes 30

Lest We Forget 31

Barn Owl 32

Physics News 33

Who Is It? 33

Musical Madness! 34

GCSE Art Review 37

Remembering The Fallen 38

Class of 2015 39

Picturesque Chester 39

CCF Updates 40

Adventure Training 40

Cheshire School Book Awards 41

Studio School Update 42

Students Explore Wales 43

Textiles Club 43

Work Placement Success! 44

News from Sylvia Wood 48

Studying Geography 49

Careers Information Evening 50

Urban Land Institute 51

World Food Day Bake-Off! 53

Cook Cup 2015 55

Sixth Form Transition 56

Luke Wright’s Poetry Party! 58

Creative Conway 60

Fun in the Sun… 62

Art Alfresco 64

Start Your Engines 65

School Rugby Review 66

Cross Country County Success 67

Cheshire Phoenix Coaching 67

Congratulations Year 9 Girls! 67

ESAA Schools Cross Country 68

Girls Badminton 69

Table Tennis Coaching 69

Football 70

Basketball 72

Condover Hall 74

Teachers Pet & Who Were They? 75

Chester Gang Show 76

The SwanThe SwanThe Magazine of Christleton High School

Keep in touch with Christleton High School via Twitter @ChristletonHS

Autumn Term 2015 3

This autumn term has been a very busy one in all areas of school life. Students and staff returned

fresh from the summer vacation, eager to begin the new term.

This summer’s exam results were impressive and we were delighted that so many of our students progressed to university, whilst others moved into our Sixth Form. You may be aware of our concern regarding the marking of our GCSE English papers. These were returned to the examination board and as a result, 57 papers had marks upgraded.

We welcomed our new Year 7 students into the school. They seem to have settled well and have taken the transition in their stride. The Government has published a statement of intent that all students in this Year group will be expected to follow EBacc subjects at GCSE.

The EBacc subjects are English Language, Maths, Science, Geography or History and a Modern Foreign Language. All our students currently study English, Maths and Science but with Geography or History and a Modern Foreign Language becoming compulsory, this will have an impact on the offer of options at KS4. The curriculum will therefore need to change and we have already begun to implement this move.

We will also see a change in the curriculum for students in

Year 10 with the grading at GCSE English

and Mathematics being awarded in numbers rather than in letters. This will be phased in with other subjects

as the syllabuses change. Significant

changes will also affect AS and A2 studies

for our Year 12 students.

Last year, the Governors carried out a parental

questionnaire and fed back the outcomes

in the Spring 2014 edition of The Swan. The Governors wish to thank all parents who responded and wanted to

let you know they expect to carry out

another questionnaire in 18 months’ time.

The school has recently held a number of parents’ meetings giving information

on various trips and events and I would like to thank you for your support at these meetings. One such event was our very successful Open Evening, held on 30th September, for parents and their children, who are wishing to apply for a place in Year 7 at the school next year.

The Chester Chronicle named Christleton High School as “the most popular state school in Cheshire”. The total number of applications received for September 2016 was 679, of which 270 were first preference. This figure is higher than in previous years.

The school was fortunate to receive around £2.5m to upgrade its exterior, which has continued through this term. The first phase to replace windows and cladding around the back of the school was completed last term. Work has continued on the next phases, in upgrading windows and walls around the front of the school with a striking copper finish.

In addition to this, insulation on the roof has been upgraded. The improvements will make the school much more thermally efficient and a nicer environment in which to work for students and staff. Despite some major disruption, the school has continued to operate very efficiently and I commend our students and staff on their flexibility in working around the team of builders. The work should be complete by the time you receive this newsletter.

I do hope that parents and guardians are using our SIMS Learning Gateway (SLG) and are able to track their children’s homework and effort made. I endeavour to incorporate technology to help our communication with you.

Headteacher’s

Report


Currently, we are piloting a school app which should be launched next term.

A good number of trips and visits have taken place this term, many of which you can read about in this edition. I am particularly pleased to see membership of our Combined Cadet Force (Royal Air Force Section) increase to 44 enrolled Cadets. My thanks go to Mr Hudson, Mrs Stott (Flying Officers) and Mr Hollywood (Flight Lieutenant)

The Musical ‘Our House’ was performed by more than 60 Upper School students as cast and crew. Following on from the very successful ‘Lion King’ production involving 110 students, the Lower School production

will take place in

June 2016, the title of

which will be announced

shortly.

The Chester Chronicle named Christleton High

School as “the most popular state school

in Cheshire”.

Our staffing position has been relatively stable this term. We congratulated Dr. Dowsett, Mrs. Lawson, Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Llewellyn on becoming parents for the second time over the summer and into the start of term. I am delighted to report that Ms. Heaver has recently adopted two little girls and we wish her

well during this leave of absence. To cover the absence, we are fortunate to have appointed Dr. Chadwick, an experienced teacher of Biology. We also look forward to welcoming Mrs. Harding when she returns in January from maternity leave. Our thanks go to Mr. Barton for his work with former Year 11 and current Year 8, during this time.

Term finishes for students at 12:40 on Thursday 17th December, following the Celebration Assembly.

I wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and New Year.

A D Stenhouse

Acting Headteacher

Autumn Term 2015 5

Year 12 Media

Studies Trip

to the BBC

Media City in

ManchesterIn early October 2015, Year 12

Media students travelled to

Manchester to visit the BBC

studios and undertake a tour.

Students observed many of the

actual studios where popular

programmes such as Blue Peter,

A Question of Sport and BBC

Breakfast are made as well as

having an insight into BBC radio

production.

They were also able to make a

news and weather bulletin in

their interactive studio.

Although, slightly disappointed

at not meeting anyone famous

apart from Mr Gannon, Year 12

Media students really enjoyed

their day and it gave them a better

understanding of the work of

the BBC and the potential work

opportunities at the location.

MediaCity


MediaCity “Thinking Hard About The Future...?”

Sixth Form Careers Conference 11th -12th June 2015Our new Year 13 began the process of making decisions about careers when they attended a two day careers conference.

We welcomed employers from 16 job sectors, covering 38 jobs: Banking, Social Work, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Radiography, Dietetics, Nursery Teaching, Primary teaching, Secondary teaching, the Police, the Army, the RAF, Architecture, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Journalism, Broadcasting, Human Resources, Retail, Manufacturing, Fine Art, Fashion, Performing Arts, Pharmacy, Psychiatry, Veterinary, Local Government, Law, IT Consultancy, Music Producer, Sports Scientist, Sports Coach, Scientist, Accountancy, Nursing, careers in Psychology.

In addition, Higher Education Lecturers from Glyndwr, John Moores, Manchester and Bangor Universities joined us to help guide students through their choices of course. Our Pathways advisor, Sylvia Wood and Duart Careers Consultants ran sessions on choices at 18 and the importance of demonstrating employability skills. Thanks to all staff and ex-students who shared their career stories, and to all our contributors:

We look forward to welcoming our guests back to the next Sixth Form Careers Conference in June 2016.

CONFERENCE SPEAKERS Joanne Timpson Senior Academic Advisor, Nursing, University of Manchester Helen Carey Professional Lead for Occupational Therapy, Glyndwr University Chris Wolfendale Lead for Dietetics and Nutrition, Chester University Alison Stuart Chartered Physiotherapist, Grosvenor Street Physiotherapy Michaela Adams Social Worker Dr Emyr Williams Programme Lead for Psychology, Glyndwr University Dr Janet Walsh Psychiatrist Katie McConnell Vet Fraser McConnell Vet Gemma Lawless Baker Tilly, Accountants Sean Williams Bank of America Merrill Lynch Steve Richards Chief Superintendent, Merseyside Police Paul Heath Governor, Christleton High School James Hudson Staff, Christleton High School Mark Doyle Army Recruitment, Chester Nick Clarke Solicitor, Aaron and Partners, Chester Tony Barton Architect, Donald Insall Associates, Chester Dr Cliff Mayhew Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, JMU

Gareth Williams Governor, Christleton High School John Valleley Kellogg Group Chris Haigh Chemical Engineer, Ineos Dave Powell Freelance Journalist Fliss Bridgewater Governor, Christleton High School, Bridgewater Consulting Luke Packer IT Consultant Max Brodie Music Entrepreneur Dr Colin Hill Lead Lecturer for Sports Science, Glyndwr University Katie Anderton Assistant Section Head, Waitrose, Chester Simon Phillips Musical Director, Christleton Lucy Mothersdale Fashion Design Student Daniel Berry Lecturer in Design and Communication, Glyndwr University Paul Jones Lecturer in Fine Arts, Glyndwr University Daniel Franklin Assistant Manager, Stepping Stones Montessori Nursery, Chester Alan Brown Headteacher, Oldfield Primary School Kristy Thew Associate Teacher, Christleton High School (School Direct PGCE) Chris Eaton Associate Teacher, Christleton High School (School Direct PGCE)

Autumn Term 2015 7

After doing Operation Christmas Child every year in primary school, last year was one of the first years in which the Sixth Form wanted to get Christleton High School involved and it seemed only right that this year, myself, Harry Hatwell, Tiegan Kenton and Briony Lewis decide to bring Operation Christmas Child to Christleton High School again!

Since 1933, Operation Christmas Child has delivered gift filled boxes to over 124 million children in more than 150 countries and territories. They distribute the boxes to deprived and unfortunate children in hospitals, orphanages and to those living in family poverty in places such as Uruguay, Haiti, and Iraq. What is special this year is that the boxes are also being sent to refugee children who are in great danger and distress. Most of the children who receive these boxes have no idea that Christmas even exists and rarely see a present or toy in their life. The excitement they get just from these

simple boxes makes us feel extremely grateful for all the presents we receive on Christmas Day. As well as the children receiving a present, the power of one box brings happiness and light into the children’s life, which they may not have otherwise; due to being affected by war, poverty, disaster, famine or disease. All of these terrible things will sadly affect the refugees this year too.

We are hoping to collect as many boxes as we can this year and will try

to create a school record! Knowing that we have helped many children’s lives all over the world become a little bit better is very satisfying. As we go to press, the mountain of colourful boxes begins to grow and we thank all the members of the school community for their hard work in putting together their contributions.

Matilda Watts

S i x t h F o r m S t u d e n t s Ta k e t h e L e a d : O p e r a t i o n C h r i s t m a s C h i l d 2 0 1 5

a Successful Operation !a Successful Operation !


In Food lessons students have been

looking at the amounts of sugar in

different types of drinks. This display

has amazed all who have seen it and

pursuaded some students to buy lower

sugar drinks. In GCSE Food we have

been looking into the nutritional value

of foods and the labelling of different

products. Always try to be aware of what

you are drinking!

RethinkYour Drink

The Teenage Cancer Trust is an important national charity which provides care and holistic support for young people suffering from cancer.

At the start of the year, the Sixth Form Leadership Teams invited a representative to speak in assemblies about the charity’s work. The response from the year groups was excellent and it really brought home to us the seriousness of the issue of cancer care for teenagers. The talks were educational and designed to inform students about the work of the Teenage Cancer Trust, which involves setting up specialist centres in hospitals for teenagers, where they can really be themselves and escape their illness and treatment.

A little known fact is that there are no teenage wards in hospitals – meaning that teenagers are faced with being treated in adult wards or being around noisy infants. The donations from events

we organise this year will go towards making these teenagers’ treatment and recovery more bearable and will hopefully equip them with the facilities to enjoy being teenagers; an experience which, thankfully, most students at Christleton High take for granted.

Throughout the year, we will be offering opportunities to get involved in fundraising. One of our aims in choosing the Teenage Cancer Trust as this year’s Sixth Form Charity is to educate students about the reality of being a teenager with cancer, tallying also with the charity’s work towards spotting the signs of cancer in its early stages.

We really hope that the whole school community will continue to support this great cause and that, together, we can do everything we can to positively touch the lives of as many teenage cancer

sufferers as possible.

Autumn Term 2015 9

1 0

Electronic Products

Year 11 GCSE44% A* - A Grades

Who is it? In a new feature, using ‘either or’ answers to some simple questions and through a life-like caricature, can you guess which prominent staff member is being described?

RED OR BLUEMESSI OR RONALDOCOFFEE OR TEABOOK OR MAGAZINEDRIVER OR PASSENGERCHINESE FOOD OR INDIAN FOODMAC OR IPADROCK OR POPCAT OR DOGPHONE OR TEXTCAR OR MOTORCYCLEDOCTOR OR DENTISTSMART OR CASUALEVERTON OR LIVERPOOLPIZZA OR PASTABATMAN OR SUPERMANCOMEDY OR THRILLEREARLY BIRD OR NIGHT OWLTWIX OR MARSTWITTER OR INSTAGRAMSUMMER OR WINTERBROWN SAUCE OR KETCHUPCRICKET OR RUGBYMOVIE OR BOX SETTHE THREE DEGREES OR THE SUPREMESBAKE OFF OR MASTERCHEF

The Swan - The Magazine from Christleton High School1 0

B i k e a b i l i t y v i s i t s C h r i s t l e t o n H i g h S c h o o l

On yer Bike!On yer Bike!

Friday, 13th November 2015 was

definitely not unlucky for twelve of

our Year 7 and Year 8 students who

completed their ‘Bikeability’ Level 3

Cycle Training Course.

Despite the weather, students were

able to demonstrate their already

excellent bike knowledge and

learn valuable new skills.

All students passed with flying

colours, congratulations.

At Christleton, we are very proud

of the number of students who

both, promote a healthy lifestyle,

and help to reduce congestion on

the road. To help ensure the safety

of all our students the following

rules need to be adhered to:

CHRISTLETON HIGH SCHOOLCYCLING GUIDELINES

We actively encourage cycling to school, but it is important that all cyclists follow these guidelines for everyone’s safety:

• Your bike must be in good condition and roadworthy, have working brakes, working lights, which are always used after dark or when visibility is poor, front and rear reflectors and a working bell• Always wear a cycling helmet.• Ride in a position where you can see and be seen. Wear light coloured or reflective clothing during the day and reflective clothing/a high visibility vest or stripe and/or accessories in the dark, which increases visibility.• Always ride in single file• Be courteous to other road users• Never carry anyone on your bike• When meeting traffic, keep to the left• Ride positively, decisively, and well

clear of the kerb, signalling at all times to alert drivers to what you plan to do, make eye contact where possible• Never ride in the middle of the road - even if it is clear• Avoid riding alongside large vehicles, like lorries or buses, where you might not be seen• Don’t cycle on the pavement unless it is a designated cycle path• When the road is wet, ride with special caution, and do not apply brakes suddenly• When cycling on busy roads, be aware of other road users, both cars and pedestrians• Watch out for car doors opening suddenly when passing parked cars• Follow the Highway Code including observing ‘stop’ and ‘give way’ signs and traffic lights. You can find the full Highway Code for cyclists at www.gov.uk/guidance/ the-highway-code/rules-for-cyclists- 59-to-82

So that we do not have any accidents in school you must dismount / mount at the school gates and walk your bike into / out of school.

We cannot be responsible for your safety when cycling to school or the safekeeping of your cycle. Lock your bike in the appropriate cycle shed! Cyclists who do not adhere to these guidelines may be prevented from bringing their bikes onto the premises.

Autumn Term 2015 1 1

On Wednesday, 15th July 2015, during third lesson, Chloe Moss came to our school to talk to some girls in Years 8, 9 and 10 about her career.

We met her in the Lecture Theatre, where she talked to us about how she created her own jewellery brand, ‘ChloBo’. She told us that her career started when she was travelling around the world with her boyfriend.

She was happy then, but sadly, after some time they decided to separate.

Upset and hurt, she wanted to finish her journey and go

back home, but her mother and father pushed her to keep on travelling. Fortunately, she decided to listen to her parents and carry on.

Her next location was Bali in Australia, and as she told us – Bali was the inspiration for her jewellery range. It was great listening to such an inspiring story. We were all very impressed that she designed a range for Claire House letting them keep 100% of the profit.

Rachel Warburton &

Courtney Hollinger

The Sixth Form provide a fantastic final day of fun for the whole school

The last day was a vibrant and energetic experience for everyone. It was full of fun and exciting activities ranging from rocking out to a local band and sumo-wrestling friends in super fat suits. It played a huge part in raising a large amount of money for our chosen charity, Teenage Cancer Trust. All money made from the event accumulated to around £1,600! This made the day even more special.

Fruits were being squeezed and blended with a topping of an umbrella and a mouth-watering slice of orange on the mocktail stand, meaning that everyone stayed fresh and hydrated

throughout the active day. Sweets and refreshments gave everyone the hype they needed when footballing and surfboarding with friends, as well as trying to beat the Sixth Forms very own tennis pro, Saleem Rizvi.

The photo booth captured the day’s atmosphere, whilst the face painting and hair-braid stands gave everyone an opportunity to get creative and have an entertaining makeover. Photos are now available on the school system so be sure to print out your flashy pictures when you can!

All of the activities and laughs made the day exciting for all involved. We would like to give a big thanks to everyone who took part in making the day possible and helping to raise money for a very important cause. We are looking forward to another great day next year.

Photographs courtesy of Hannah Whitlock, who organised the photobooth.


How would you argue for and against, ‘Being extraordinary is easy’? Debating in English about this topic is hard enough, let alone having to do it in French. This philosophical topic, along with more current topics such as, ‘Are migrants still welcome?’, ‘Is nuclear power the answer?’, and ‘Have tablets made our lives better?’ were the prescribed subjects that we had to use to overcome our opponents. They didn’t stand a chance…

After a few months of practice debates against Madame Dionisi and Sophie, our French assistant, around similar topics, we left for Cheadle Hulme School. We knew we were up against tough opposition, with only three (including us) out of the seventeen teams being from state schools. The atmosphere was a mix of nervous energy and ‘adjectival agreements’, and after a brief introduction, we managed to watch a few debates before our own, which reassured us that our preparation would pay off.

Our first match was against Bolton School for Boys, on the migrant topic, which put a big smile on Harry’s face – always wanting to take a political stance! Nerves did not get the better of us, and we managed to wrestle them off with a series of exposing questions. Our teamwork was impeccable and praised by the adjudicator. Unfortunately, we lost that debate – taking 3 points for an ‘impressive performance in defeat’ – but we were thrilled with our performance and felt we spoke and debated impressively.

Watching our Cestrian opponents, The King’s School, glide to victory gave us some useful ideas for our next debate,

whilst also allowing us to cheer on former Christleton student, Megan Russon. Time for the debate that Madame Dionisi had been dreading against Altrincham Grammar School for Boys. Again, luck was on our side and we got the side of the debate on tablets that we wanted. This was a debate in all senses of the word. The quality of this team was remarkable, but we also improved our debating skills and, once again, gave a very comprehensive display. Sadly, we lost this one as well even though the other team evaded all of our questions! They were obviously a very strong team, qualifying for the semi-finals, deserved their place, and we were gracious and humble in defeat.

Reflecting in the car journey home, we agreed that we constructed two high-quality debates and we were certainly proud of how we conducted ourselves, and the great teamwork we displayed.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and it was a challenging and stimulating experience.

We would like to say a big thank you to Madame Dionisi and Señor Vilches for organising the debate and taking us, and to Sophie for all the help with preparing us for the debate.

Harry Hatwell & Saleem Rizvi

MFL Debating Competition 2015

Flying high…Wednesday, 16th October 2015, 0600Z. Six brave Cadets undertook the journey from Christleton High School to No.10 AEF Squadron at RAF Woodvale in Merseyside.

Pre-flight briefing by Flt Lt Burrows at 0900Z; weather at RAF Woodvale: wind 280 degrees at 12 knots, few clouds at 3000 feet, broken clouds at 4600 feet, looks good. Two full aerobatic licenced Grob Tutor 115’s are at our disposal today, G-CGKS and G-CGKL. Time for the emergency drills assessment; in order for a Cadet to fly, he/she must prove that in the event of an emergency they can jettison the canopy, escape the safety harness, exit the aircraft, and pull the parachute. Following the safety briefing it was time for all Cadets to suit up, each pilot was issued a flight suit, parachute, life support jacket (LSJ) and a flying helmet.

When kitted up Cadets were walked two by two to their aircraft, whilst the remaining four listened in on the radio scanner. Once inside the aircraft Cadets were briefed on the flight plan, the start-up procedure began, and the flight instructor began his pre-flight checks. “Cleared for take-off runway 21”; the clearance arrives from ATC and the throttle is advanced, the four cylinder engine roars into life as the aircraft begins to move forward. “70 knots, rotate”, pulling back on the aircraft control column the wheels leave the runway and for many Cadets this is their first experience of flight in a light aircraft.

Whilst in the air, the Cadets have complete choice over what they do, some choose to practice their knowledge learnt in principles of flight to control the aircrafts, whilst others prefer loop the loops and aileron rolls. Other Cadets choose to take cameras up and photograph the scenery surrounding RAF Woodvale.

After a brief sortie in the air, the Cadets are returned to terra firma where a full debrief of the lesson is given and any associated logbooks are signed. Air Experience Flights are always memorable occasions as flying at 2500 feet is not an everyday experience.

Teacher’s PetThey say people grow to look like their dogs!

Who does this ‘Children in Need’ mascot belong to? Look through The Swan

to find his owner.


On 5th October 2015, Christleton’s Sixth Form Politics and Law students enjoyed their annual trip to Parliament and the Supreme Court.

Our first stop was the Supreme Court. Court staff welcomed us and we then visited the permanent exhibition in the Court’s basement, which highlighted some landmark cases judges had already heard. We were also able to explore some of the court rooms. Many students were surprised by the relative informality of the highest court in the land; judges, barristers and visitors to the

court all sit at the same level in rooms which are well-lit and comfortable.

A visit to Downing Street was followed by a quick lunch. In the afternoon our tour of the Houses of Parliament began. We were fortunate enough to view the House of Commons, the House of Lords, St Stephen’s Hall and Westminster Hall. Our knowledgeable guide was able to answer the many

questions we put to him.

Many thanks must be given to Christopher Matheson, our

sponsor for the tour. He met us in Parliament where he had

organised a conference room; sharp minded

students quizzed him on his political career.

The students sum it up well:

“The trip to London was fantastic! We went to the Supreme Court first where we were given a guided tour around the building. The Supreme Court is the last place you can come to in the United Kingdom to appeal a case before moving to the European Court of Human Rights, so it was really interesting to see such an important part of the UK legal system. In the afternoon we were shown around the Houses of Parliament, which was a great experience as we were able to see the interior of the building and, of course, the Houses of Lords and Commons. The size of the Lords and the Commons came very much as a surprise to us due to them both being very small; we were expecting the Houses to be much larger. After this, we had a very informative question and answer session with the Chester MP, Chris Matheson, who gave us really good responses to the issues we raised. We gained a lot of knowledge from the trip that we can now apply to our studies.”

Adam Stanworth 12.6

“The Supreme Court, Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament are all things that we recognise well but have never been inside. On 5th October, I visited these iconic places with the rest of the AS Level Government and Politics class. The Houses of Parliament was incredible and it was so odd being somewhere that I had seen on television so many times. One of the best things we did that day was meet Chester’s MP, Chris Matheson. Just being able to have the opportunity to meet the person who links us to Westminster was amazing. Overall, the whole experience was just incredible, and something not many people have the opportunity to do.’

Angharad Rees-Hughes 12.6

POLITICS & LAW

Visit


Outlook 2007, Outlook 2003 or Outlook Express

You have three options to choose from:

• Go to “Actions” on your email menu bar. Select “Junk E-mail” from your pulldown menu. Select “Add Sender to Safe Senders List”

• Right-click in the message and select “Add the Sender to Safe Senders List”

• Go to “Tools” on the menu bar. Select “Options” in the pull-down menu. Under “Preferences”, select“ Junk E-mail”. Then click on the “Safe Sender” tab. Click the “Add” button. Type the email address of the sender in the text box

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You can do either of the following:

• Add the email address to your address book

• Reply to the email. If you reply to the email, AOL will automatically put the address in your address book

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• Open the email

• Click the “Add Address” icon on the right

• The email address is pre-populated in the “Contact Details” pop-up. Verify that the pre-populated information is correct

• Click “Save”

Hotmail/Outlook.com

• Log into Hotmail

• Click “Options” (the cog symbol on the top right hand side of the screen), select “More email settings”

• Under the heading “Preventing junk email”, click “Safe and blocked senders” then “Safe senders”

• Type in the email address and click “Add to list”

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Yahoo! Mail

• Use the “Not Spam” button to report messages you want in your Inbox that were delivered to your Bulk folder

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Gmail or Googlemail

• Open the email

• Click “More Options” in the email header

• Click “Add Sender to Contact List”

------------------------------------------

Apple Mail

• Add the email address to your address book

• In Training mode, emails will arrive in the inbox highlighted in brown. In Automatic mode, junk emails will arrive in the Junk box. To add an email that arrived in the Junk folder, highlight the email message, click “Mark” and select “As Not Junk Mail”

To ensure you receive emails from our Schoolcomms

communication system it is advisable to add the address

[email protected] to your allowed list:

GCHQ visit Christleton

On Friday, 16th October 2015, Christleton Modern Languages Department hosted a talk and a series of workshops about careers using languages within the UK’s intelligence agencies.

Students from Years 9, 11, 12 and 13 were joined by students from Neston High School, Tarporley High School and Bishop Heber High School for the event.

During the sessions, students were given a presentation by a Language Analyst from GCHQ and had the opportunity to ask questions about her work (some of which she couldn’t’ answer!). They then took part in a range of language taster sessions including Italian, Russian, Euskera, Mandarin and Esperanto.

Hopefully we have some budding Language Analysts out there!

For more information on careers at GCHQ visit www.gchq-careers.co.uk

DoE Diary DatesGold – Year 12 Friday, 22nd to Sunday, 24th April 2016 Gold Practice Expedition

Tuesday, 5th to Saturday, 9th July 2016 Gold Test Expedition

Silver – Year 10 Monday, 25th January 2016 - Silver eDofE enrolment ICT1 (15:30 - 16:30)

Saturday, 30th January 2016 – Silver expedition training day (09:00 - 16:00)

Bronze – Year 9 Monday, 1st February 2016 - Bronze eDofE enrolment ICT rooms (15:30 - 17:00)

Saturday, 12th March 2016 - Bronze Expedition Training (09:00 - 16:00)

Sunday, 20th March 2016 - Bronze Expedition Training (09:00 - 16:00)

DofE Drop-in: Mrs Stott: ICT3 (12:30-13:00) every Monday. The door is open for any DofE student to ask any questions and general DofE support.

Don’t forget to check the DofE noticeboard for dates and information (in between the hall and PE changing rooms.)


We l c o m e t o C h r i s t l e t o n H i g h S c h o o l Ye a r 7

HELLO YEAR 7 HELLO YEAR 7

On 2nd September 2015, 213 excited Year 7 students gathered on the Junior Yard ready to start their first day at Christleton High School. It has been a privilege watching them settle and I can’t wait to see them continue their journey to adulthood with us.

Miss Edwards

The New Intake Day was very interesting and fun. It is a chance to make new friends and learn something new. When I went in on the Intake Day I didn’t know anybody and came out with loads of new friends. It was a bit nerve wracking at first but everybody was extremely nice. It was a chance to feel like a proper high school student.

One of the activities we did was Art. The lesson was interesting because we learnt what colours shade into other colours. The teacher was

very friendly and helpful. Another subject that we did was Science. Our objective was to build a capsule that held an egg. We could design the capsule any way we wanted but it would be dropped from the top of some stairs. All our capsules worked. One of the best subjects was Maths because we learnt some new methods, which made some questions easier. At the end of the day we felt like we learnt more in one day than a week at primary school.Patrick Ashley & George Welsh 7BA2


My first term in Christleton High School has been my favourite term of my life. I have loved it.Lewis Irvine 7L2 When I first arrived I was shaking and had not made any friends. I sat next to a girl from Boughton Heath Primary School. We got our timetables and we both realised we were in pretty much the same lessons for everything. After that we became best friends. I also made best friends with two other girls. It was quite hard to find my way around at first but after two days I knew where every classroom was, even if it wasn’t mine.

The teachers are all really lovely and helpful. If I ever have a problem, I know that a teacher will be there to help. Christleton High School has given me an opportunity to find some good friends who are more like me. It also has a wide range of subjects. My favourite subjects at the moment are French, Art, and DT. I go to dance club at lunchtime, which is great fun. We do a dance show in February, which I think will build my confidence quite a bit. There is a wide range of clubs in school time and after school that you can do.Ellie Morrey 7L2

My first day at Christleton was a bit scary. I didn’t know many people or where my classes were, but now I have been here for a term I am used to it. I only needed about 3 days to learn where everything is in school; even though it is big, it is easy to learn the school layout. Everyone is very kind and will tell me where my class is if I’m not sure where to go. Christleton High School is amazing and will always stay that way!Felix McLaughlin 7BY2 Finally, we would like to take the opportunity to thank the 101 parents who completed the online transition survey. Results were positive with

96% of parents agreeing that they were happy with the transition to Christleton High School. Comments included:

• Transition has been particularly successful - you would think my child has been at CHS forever already! • My son has settled well and enjoys attending school. I have been really impressed by his newly found independence.

• Settled in really well. Made new friends and is really happy each day.

Lloyds Bank work experience- the most useful week of my summer holidayI first came across Lloyds Bank at the Sixth Form Careers’ Conference in June 2015, when they ran an excellent workshop on working in the finance and banking sector. They talked about the importance of work experience and invited us to take up this opportunity with them.

The five days’ work experience I was involved in at Lloyds Bank, arranged by Mrs Hughes, gave me an invaluable insight into the knowledge, skills and experience needed in the banking world, as well as providing me with my first real life experience of the ‘world of work’. I found the banking experience to be extremely interesting; learning about the administrative aspects, invaluable team work and management roles and opportunities that were all integral to the banking environment.

My work experience was well structured and the staff were very happy to spend their time talking about their jobs as well as giving me an insight into the ‘ins and outs’ of their roles. I spent time shadowing members of the staff at all levels, from telephony, where I listened in to some interesting calls to say the least, to floor managers whose workload I struggled to keep track of.

A range of activities was also set up for me in order to prepare me for the change between full time education and life in the workplace. This included a presentation and a practice interview, which were adapted to suit me (a lot more relaxed). Although I was apprehensive about taking part in these activities, I’m very pleased that I did, as they provided me with the opportunity to get used to the experience, and also to understand the kind of questions that employers ask and what they are typically looking for in an answer. I walked away from the activity feeling that I was much better prepared for an interview situation in the future, irrespective of the career path I decide to take.

If you have the opportunity to take part in work experience anywhere, but especially at Lloyds Bank, I would highly recommend it. The whole experience provided me with a great insight into the banking world whilst at the same time being very enjoyable. I walked away with real clarity as to the type of job that would suit me in the future.

Thomas Mullin


During

the 2015 summer

holidays, Christleton hosted

a Summer School for the fourth year running.

Its main focus was to offer students a comprehensive,

meaningful yet fun intervention programme which would highlight

and work on key skills including teamwork, communication and negotiation as well as developing literacy and numeracy.

Commencing on 24th August 2015, over 20 of our up-coming Year 7 students were welcomed; an overview of the week was then discussed. Morning activities were focused around Maths and Englishworkshops; by the afternoon

students were letting

off steam within the PE department,

taking part in a variety of activities and sports.

On Monday afternoon, we challenged our students to

create a chair made from balloons. Resources were provided and the groups were split equally. A prize for the most stable, eye-catching chair was up for grabs. The students were focusing and working on their new friendship groups right from the offset. This continued to improve as time progressed.

Tuesday afternoon focused upon our Cadet theme for the week; challenging students to work as a group and prepare a Cadet march in preparation for a performance on the final day of camp. To make the experience more realistic we had our very own Cadet Officer; Mrs Liz Stott taking lead. Students used face paints to make their statement and worked fantastically well linking all movements together to the music.

Wednesday afternoon, the students took part in Desert Island Challenge where

they were asked to

build a water proof shelter from the

resources provided (rope, plastic sheeting,

fencing posts, tape, tent pegs). Each shelter was tested

against water; the students loved the whole experience. Thursday was a day of sporting physical activities. All students were involved in the scatter ball and ski walking challenges as well as a Dodgeball competition. The competitive atmosphere was electric; everyone was up for the challenge and all wanted to be crowned winners.

Friday, the final day of the Summer School, parents and other family members were invited along to witness all of the academic work produced in the morning workshop sessions. The students showcased their work including their Maths and English worksheets, portraits and hand-made musical instruments. In the afternoon students performed their ‘cadet marching parade’ for family and friends.

The overall experience was fantastic and the feedback from students and parents was extremely positive. Parents claimed their child to be more confident with the school and its surroundings in preparation for the September start. Some had developed strong friendship groups, which made the transition from primary to secondary less daunting.

Miss A Cross, PE Department

Year 7 Summer School 2015


The new Year 13 undertook an exciting two-day Sixth Form Careers Conference, an event aimed at informing and educating the Year group on possible future professions and pathways.

The first day began with a host of conference speakers discussing their field of work which enabled us to see a ‘day in the life’ of each person. For example, those interested in the field of science witnessed Chris Haigh who discussed at length how a Chemical Engineer would think and respond to certain scenarios, which was followed by an in-depth question and answer.

Robert Machen, a fairly new Chemist based at Unilever, explained how he reached the position he’s in now, passing on advice on different routes to a career in the science industry.

Students with a different vision however, sought advice from Dave Powell, a freelance Sport Journalist who discussed the competitive media industry and how a persistent attitude was needed to succeed in such a difficult career path. Moreover, we learnt about the long and tiring day a sport journalist faces, which was quite far off from the glitz and glamour one often associates with journalism.

We then heard from a leading consultant who worked in Human Resources, a line of work which is heavily interlinked with the media. The conference gave many of us, including myself, the reality of the media industry, with our speaker informing us that the easiest route into television and film was to gain work experience or be employed as a runner; a job which requires much more than first thought!

The afternoon of the first day saw a similar conference format, with Teachers, and past and present university students telling us about their very own pathways. For example, we heard from our school’s own Art Teacher, Mr Hornby who discussed how his career did not just ‘fall into place’, with his advice being work hard and quite simply, do what you love. Mr Hall, an ICT Teacher, discussed how he went into a plethora of careers before settling into teaching. Arguably, it was rather comforting to know that not everyone had a career set in stone at seventeen, and the talks gave inspiration and advice.

Following career advice and explanations, the second day saw a heavy focus on personal statements. The morning included a presentation from Bangor University, and Sylvia Wood, the school Careers Advisor, on the importance of personal statements. The talk was very helpful because it gave examples of successful personal statements and allowed us to see exactly what Admission Tutors are looking for in the ideal candidate; often a difficult job, considering there are thousands of applicants for a few places. Sylvia Wood discussed the importance of differentiating between skill and personal qualities to ensure that our CVs or personal statements will be strong enough to secure that elusive job or university place.

Overall, the two days were a useful and enlightening experience. It was a good opportunity to learn more about future career paths and the wide range of careers available.

Zsolt Tildy & Jemima Gosmore

FORM Careers Conference6TH

Hot Scholars French - Primary School VisitOver the last term, we worked on a project for a visit to Boughton Heath Primary School. Our aim was to deliver a lesson on basic French vocabulary for a Year 6 class. We worked hard on it, once a week at lunchtime, until we were happy with it.

Overall, we think that it went really well. We used the iPads and the interactive board to make it as exciting as we could for the students. One activity, which they especially enjoyed, was the ‘Decide Now’ app on the iPads. Students were able to create random numbers to translate into French. We thought this was a great way for them to recap on their previous knowledge and they were very enthusiastic.

Next, we covered dates of birth so students could say their birthdays. We asked each student individually by passing a ball around the class to make them practice what they had learnt and build their confidence when speaking in a different language.

We thought that it was a great experience for not only for us, but for the class as well.

Eliza Rose & Jessie Griffiths


Recently students

ventured to Fablab

Ellesmere Port to

complete a Rapid

Prototyping Activity.

Fablab Ellesmere Port is part of a network of 508 Fablabs around the world. Fablab is a not for profit organisation and offers a creative space for budding designers, makers, engineers and entrepreneurs to bring their concepts and ideas to life. The lab has state-of-the-art facilities including 3D printers, a laser cutter, and a large CNC router. Anyone can visit Fablab and access this equipment.

The students were given the challenge of creating an ornate stand for Faberge eggs for an art gallery. Following a

short tutorial on using open source design software to run the laser cutter, students were busy making card prototypes.

The rapid prototyping session was a great success as students learned by their mistakes quickly and made changes and alterations to their design drawings before cutting another prototype. Students would then test their prototype. By the end of the session the students had created up to three card models and cut a final model in Perspex.

Extraordinary inventor and outstanding Geographer Oliver Hynds 8LA2 demonstrated brilliance, innovation and imagination this term. Whilst planning his field work investigation into the water cycle and what occurs when precipitation reaches

the ground, Oliver

challenged himself to invent an ingenious solution; The Marvellous Moisture Detector Machine. Oliver took only two days to invent the moisture detector, which used electrical currents to show the level of moisture that was present on both permeable and impermeable surfaces. Thanks to his invention, the entire class was able to use a scale to understand the level of moisture on the different test sites around school.

Oliver clearly has a very bright future as both a Geographer, expert Engineer and Inventor.

Oliver's Marvellous Moisture Detector Machine


In June 2015, I went on the Religious Education Places of Worship visit. First, we went to a Synagogue where we learnt about the Torah Scrolls and tried the special Challah Loaf. We then visited a Sikh Gurdwara. I learnt that instead of Gods and Prophets, they have Gurus, and they built a shrine to the last Guru on the top floor of the Gurdwara.

The founder of Sikhism was Guru Nanak, and after we completed our learning, we were given sweets and treats that were donated to the Gurdwaras by people who attended every week.

Finally, we visited the Mosque. This was my favourite place because we were allowed to look around, and even have a look at the prayer room where the call to prayer could be heard.

We were also able to have a look around the top floor and do many different activities. Altogether, the trip was very enjoyable.

Maisie Spauls 8KE2

Places

of

WorshipWhen we went on the Religious

Education visit to Liverpool, we

visited different Places of Worship

called a Mosque and a Synagogue.

I thought it was a great experience

and we learnt a lot. My favourite

part of the trip was visiting the

Synagogue because we saw what

it was like to be a Muslim and how

they worship their God and the

rules they have to follow.

Amelia Stalker


Talk about a revolution...

Design Technology is currently going through a revolution. Last year a group of GCSE students led by Lewis Gerrard and Mia Bellion petitioned Mr Lamberton to request for Design Technology to have a 3D printer.

Lewis believes it has further enhanced the students’ capabilities and has made them more aware of current

trends in industrial design and the wider world. “It made me more aware of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and

helped me to model my ideas without physically making them.”

Since its arrival, the 3D printer has changed the shape of lessons, teachers have made it accessible to all students regardless of

age, and it has become an immensely popular design tool. Students have to develop their knowledge of CAD to

generate their designs, which they can then send to the 3D printer. This has enabled the students to make products quickly to a professional standard.

Reece Owens feels he has been able to expand his creative ideas in electronics and turn them into reality

easily and quickly. “We can also manufacture shapes that we wouldn’t be able to make traditionally such as

Domes.”

Mathew Swift thinks that it is fun to create using Spaceclaim, “It’s helpful to make a unique product: I really enjoy using the 3D printer in

school because it is very high tech and a different way of creating your product.”

Due to the generosity and hard work of the CHSA, we now have funding to buy at least one additional 3D printer and very soon we hope to have a 3D printer permanently in each DT workshop for students of all year groups to use. If anyone wishes to see them

in action then please ask any member of the DT department. Our Hot Scholars will be helping to set up

and test the new equipment before it is in use for all. Watch this space.

“ I really enjoy using the 3D printer in school because it is very high tech and a different way of creating your product”


Who is it? In a new feature, using ‘either or’ answers to some simple questions and through a life-like caricature, can you guess which prominet staff member is being described?

COFFEE OR TEABOOK OR MAGAZINEDRIVER OR PASSENGERCHINESE FOOD OR INDIAN FOODMAC OR IPADROCK OR POPCAT OR DOGPHONE OR TEXTDOCTOR OR DENTISTSMART OR CASUALPIZZA OR PASTABATMAN OR SUPERMANUNION OR LEAGUECLARET OR BLUECOMEDY OR THRILLEREARLY BIRD OR NIGHT OWLTWIX OR MARSTWITTER OR INSTAGRAMBIRMINGHAM OR VILLAGOLF OR TENNISBACON OR SAUSAGEBROWN SAUCE OR KETCHUPCRICKET OR RUGBYCORRIE OR EASTENDERSMOVIE OR BOX SETGIRLS ALOUD OR LITTLE MIXX FACTOR OR STRICTLY

Sixth Form Leadership TeamsThe Sixth Form Leadership Teams have already made a great start to the year with some excellent fundraising efforts for our chosen charity, the Teenage Cancer Trust. We all organised a fun day on the field and have held cake sales and other activities for the whole school to get involved in.

We are organised into three different groups. The School Improvement Team is working towards improving teaching, learning, and the general school community. They have already carried out some preliminary work on putting up new lockers and are planning new Sixth Form facilities. Whilst the Social and Fundraising Team organises the most important dates in the school calendar (namely Prom and the Snow Ball!).

Transition work with Year 7s is the work of the School Community Team, amongst other things. Together, we are all working to better the school community and the way the school is run before we leave in June - through attending Governors’ Meetings and working with teachers.

Collectively, we are always open to new suggestions about things in which we can get involved and are keen to hear from you about possible future projects.

Ben Moody & Harry Hatwell

Video Tutorials in Art

Art Hot Scholars are creating a series of video tutorials to help other students learn. The videos, which will be posted on YouTube and on the school’s network, can be used by students who want to learn new techniques and improve home learning responses.

Jess Jones, Ellie Carter and I have made the first of these videos, which is on ‘star scribble’- shading with biros. I hope that we can make more tutorials soon as the process was very enjoyable.

The videos will be available on Mr Hornby’s YouTube channel - MrH@CHS. There is an advertisement poster for the videos in Mr Hornby’s room for anyone who would like to find out more about them.

Ellie Smith Art Hot Scholar


The Unilever Dove Self-Esteem Workshop Team get ready to meet our Year 8 Students.

We were delighted to welcome a team of nearly 25 representatives from Unilever earlier this term to work with all students in Year 8. We are always keen to develop our links with local industry as part of our Pathway range of initiatives.

Unilever are a big local employer, as well as being one of the world’s leading fast-moving consumer goods companies with products sold in over 190 countries. More than 2 billion

consumers worldwide use a Unilever product on any given day. Unilever brands include these on the left.

The purpose of the workshop was to equip students with the tools they need to build and protect their self-esteem, thereby enabling them to realise their full potential. The workshop covered: • Understanding what affects ‘self-esteem’ and ‘body confidence’

• Exploring how imagery may shape thoughts and feelings on body shape

• Seeing the reality behind media imagery

• Improving self-esteem skills.

Here’s what three of our Year 8’s thought about the experience:

“It was such a great session. I feel so much more confident and it is unbelievable what is done to make people look completely different, compared to what they look like in real life.” Oliver Hynds 8L2 “The female model wasn’t over pretty. Once they had finished putting make-up on and doing her hair, she was stunning. However, this isn’t real life because we all have imperfections and no one is perfect.” George McElwaine 8BA2 “It was great to see how companies, e.g. Photoshop, edit a model’s picture to make them look better. I couldn’t believe the amount of make-up they put on to the models to alter their looks and enhance features.” Nung Sirisot 8Ba1 Many thanks to the Unilever team for delivering the sessions and to Mr Barton for coordinating the whole event.


As we study the topic animal rights, Religious Studies

organised the trip to go to Chester Zoo so that we could

learn about their conservation methods. In the morning

each class had a conservation seminar. We learnt about the

different statuses of populations of animals around the world,

as well as how Chester Zoo is trying to help. We then had

free time to explore the Zoo and learn about these animals

first hand. Overall it was an interesting trip and we really

enjoyed it!

Sophie Brown & Jenny Brooks

We went to the Zoo... ...how about you?

This term the iResearch team has launched a Film Club

that takes place on Wednesdays after school from 2.30 pm

until 5.00 pm. Screenings are held in the school’s Lecture

Theatre, which with its theatrical widescreen, surround

sound and comfortable leather seating makes an excellent

in-school cinema.

Unlike so many of today’s multiplex cinemas, Film Club

screenings are intimate and completely free of charge.

Posters and trailers in the school’s iResearch Centre will

advertise the latest Film Club screenings.

Any student wishing to attend a screening simply needs

to fill in a membership form and come along to the

Lecture Theatre at 2.30 pm on Wednesdays. There will be

charity snacks on sale for £1.00 each and we will also be

screening trailers for the latest films out in cinemas.

Film Club was launched in September 2015 with a

screening of the popular YA dystopian thriller ‘The Maze

Runner’ described by attending student Dylan Shone

as “a journey of a lifetime”. A Halloween Screening of

‘Hotel Transylvania’ and a Memorial Day screening of ‘The

Imitation Game’ followed this.

For regular Film Club members there will also be

opportunities to get involved in Film Club competitions,

trips and events. For students attending every week, there

will also be an opportunity to play a big role in choosing

the films that are screened at Christleton High School.

If you are interested in joining, please see Miss Cowley or

Miss Evans in the iResearch Centre for further details.

Wednesdays are movie days...


A group of Year 11 students visited Poland for four days. During the visit, they visited Podgorze (Jewish ghetto) and the Schindler Factory Museum. This gave the students an idea of how the Jewish population were treated once the Nazi party took control of Poland.

The second day gave the students an insight into pre-war Jewish life in Krakow. It was at the Galicia Museum that the girls met Monika Goldwasser; an incredible woman who survived the Holocaust by being smuggled out of the ghetto to a convent and went on to be adopted by a Polish family. However, Monika was brought up unaware of her heritage.

The tour of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp the following day was a powerful experience for all students and really reinforced the chilling experience that so many

prisoners faced.

The visit proved to be very beneficial for

the students’ progress, as well as giving them a

chance to sample the Polish culture with a trip to the main

town square, shopping and trying the local cuisine.

“The trip to Poland was amazing, yet surreal. It made us realise, that we should be grateful for what we have in life and to respect all human beings.” Year 11 student.

Mr Hollywood, Head of Citizenship & PSHE added: “It was a pleasure to take this group of students to Poland, not only did they gain a better understanding of the Holocaust, but it also embedded the Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural values that we embrace as part of our ethos and curriculum at Christleton High School.”

On 25th October 2015, a group of 22 students travelled to Krakow, in Poland. On arrival, we explored the square to find a place for lunch. We then had time to go into the hotel and we were allocated our rooms. Then, we met a tour guide who guided us around the city and the ghetto. This was very informative and shocking because we learned how the people were treated, and stood in the square of the ghetto where thousands were killed. After this, we went to Schindler’s Factory, a museum dedicated to the efforts made by Oscar Schindler. In the evening, we went to the square where we had our meals.

The next day, we visited the salt mines and went down to the 3rd level. Massive sculptures of salt were made down in the chambers, which were extraordinary. After a short

lunch, we travelled to a museum where we met a Holocaust

survivor. It was extremely interesting to listen to her

story and then ask our questions. Afterwards, we

had more free time to either stay in the hotel or go into the

square.

On the final day, we went to Auschwitz Birkenau. This is the largest concentration camp of World War II, the sheer size of it was overwhelming. Some of the barracks were reconstructed after the Nazis tried to hide the destruction. We were able to enter some of the barracks where the people slept, washed, and worked. Then we walked further into the camp until we reached where the gas chambers stood before being bombed. One of them remained a pile of rubble whilst the other was rebuilt into a memorial to commemorate all the innocent people killed here. The stone writing is put into more than 20 different languages of the people who were brought into the camp over the years.

Personally, we believe that this trip has opened our eyes to such massive scale destruction of human lives and has taught us that it cannot happen again. Although some of the things we witnessed were distressing, the trip also allowed us to have fun in a new environment with our friends and peers.

Fern Horsfield & Amy Russon


While we were on the school trip to Krakow, Poland, we visited Auschwitz for a day. Auschwitz is split into three camps; we went to two called Auschwitz and Auschwitz Birkenau.

During the first part of the day, we had a tour around Auschwitz Birkenau. In this part of the camp, the prisoners lived in wooden huts and worked doing pointless labour. Most of the prisoners worked themselves to death. Some people, on arrival at Auschwitz Birkenau and after assessment by doctors, were sent straight to the gas chambers. They will have arrived by train, which is why a long piece of train track runs straight through the centre of the camp, dividing the women and children’s area from the men’s area.

On the far side of the camp, there is a monument honouring those who died written in all the languages that they will have spoken between them. There are also the remains of the gas chambers, and the basic structures of the huts (a few of the huts have been reconstructed so that you can see the conditions in which people lived).

In the second part of the day, we were shown Auschwitz. In this area of the camp, the entrance gate reads, “Work Makes You Free”, and the people were forced to live in old army barracks. At first glance, this part of the camp is surprisingly beautiful in the way it is set out and the nature grows around the buildings. However, once you step inside the buildings you face the harsh reality of what really happened. Inside the different buildings there are rooms dedicated to certain artefacts. These include one room full of two tonnes of human hair, one full of shoes, one full of suitcases, one full of pots and pans, one full of brushes, one full of prosthetic limbs, etc.

Most of these possessions were never used by the people imprisoned in Auschwitz once they arrived at the camp. Some of the buildings are also set up to look as they would have looked at the time. There were “beds” of

cloth sacks packed with straw strewn across the floors,

with a few of the rooms having actual beds

and their own toilet. These rooms were for

people that the Nazis thought would

be helpful to them and gave jobs to that would

keep them at the camp longer than the others.

Some rooms were the toilets, with lines of small pots

against the walls and barriers that people

could only use twice a day. Some of

the rooms were washrooms,

where long troughs were placed similarly

to the pots in the toilet rooms. Photographs of

people taken into Auschwitz lined the walls of the corridors

in these buildings, each one framed with the person’s

name and number (and sometimes their

occupation) written neatly beneath the

photograph.

The size of Auschwitz as a whole

shocked me the most. In Auschwitz Birkenau,

when standing in the control tower, it was only just possible to

see the monument at the other end of that area, but you could not quite see the border. This was the same either side of the control tower.

The most upsetting part of the visit was going into the buildings in Auschwitz and seeing all the faces of those killed in the Holocaust. If you looked at their eyes, you could see their sadness and their lack of hope. The Nazis had shaved their heads and they were all so thin and fragile that they all looked very similar, which made it easier for the Nazi soldiers to kill them, because they did not see them as individuals.

I would say that visiting Auschwitz is extremely worthwhile because you can only really appreciate what happened and the scale at which it happened if you have seen the place. By just reading through textbooks and watching videos, it’s hard to grasp that the Holocaust actually happened. Seeing the artefacts and buildings turns the numbers that we get so used to seeing into actual people that we can relate to.

Briony Vickers 11BA1


At Christleton High School, Sixth Formers benefit from using ‘Unifrog’ to help them with their University and career choices. Unifrog is an award winning online platform which connects students to the best courses and apprenticeships, while allowing teachers to track their progress. It is the only place where students can compare every University course, apprenticeship and FE course in the UK. Unifrog aims to help improve students’ destinations, including increasing access to the Russell Group, Oxbridge, and School

Leaver Programmes. The Apprenticeship side of the site allows them access to Apprenticeships as they go live during the year. A Sixth Former’s view: “Unifrog is fun to use and made searching for the right courses for me much easier. It got me to think about important factors such as what course would suit me, what kind of university I want to study in, how far away from home I want to be and how much I want to pay for accom-modation.” Mrs Hughes, Head of Year 13, agrees: “The computer based pro-gramme is intuitive and easy to use and really helps students weave their way through the overwhelm-ing amount of information they are offered to make a life-changing decision.”

Is Photography

Art?

Many people dismiss photography as not being “real art” but it is an art form just as much as traditional drawing or painting. There are different styles of photography and to get a good photo you need to practice and have the right skill set.

It’s difficult to just take a photo with no

experience and for it be a masterpiece. But the same goes for a drawing, yes, you could be a natural and draw a good drawing with no experience but of course it would be better if you knew how to maximise the skills required.

So with photography you need to know your equipment, which is your camera and also how it works. It is important to understand there are different types of camera. Just like a paint brush, you wouldn’t use a fat brush to do a small detailed part; you wouldn’t use a land-scape lens for a close-up photo.

Photography can also be a job and not just a hobby, you can sell photos for thousands of pounds just like other artworks. There are so many famous photography artists all across the globe. Ansle Adams is a famous photogra-pher; he shot mostly in black and white and that is a medium that can be very powerful in photos. This shows that photography is a form of art.

I really enjoy photography and I am learning about aperture and shutter speed to make my photographs even better. When I take good photographs it feels nice to have spent time learning how to take them well. Here is one of my best photos I have taken in a forest.

James Harris 9BA2

Challenge


Onward Christleton soldiers…Congratulations to two of our Year 10 students, Megan Tuck and James Parry, who have been announced as winners of our photography and article writing competition!

Both students produced excellent work, were presented with a card, vouchers, and will also receive a copy of the ‘Christleton War Voices 1914-18’ book that is due, hot off the press, later this month.

The competition was launched during a school trip to the battlefields of France and Belgium earlier this year and was supported by Christleton’s Local Historical Association.

Mr David Cummings of the Historical Association judged the work of both students. David has worked very closely with the school as part of an on-going school and community project to increase students’ awareness of World War 1, with a particular focus on local history.

If you have an interest in finding out about the experiences of local Christleton soldiers and how World War 1 affected our local community, please visit the ‘Christleton Village Website’ and click on the ‘War Voices 1914-18’ tab.

christleton.org.uk/christleton2/index.html

TRASH TREK

ChallengeTen STEM Club students are once again embarking on the exciting journey of the First Lego League competition.

This year they’re not talking trash, they’re cleaning it up in the 2015 Lego League TRASH TREK challenge. More than 233,000 children in over 80 countries will explore the fascinating world of trash. From collecting to sorting, to smart production and reuse, there is more to your trash than meets the eye.

Every year each challenge has three parts: the Robot Game, the Project and the FLL core values. Teams participate in the challenge by programming an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing field (robot game), developing a solution to a problem they have identified (Project), all guided by the FLL core values. Teams then attend the official tournament in December.

This is our second year attempting the FLL Challenge and some of our older students who took part last year are mentoring some of the new younger team members in the development of strategies, in order to score the maximum amount of points. Stay tuned for the results of the competition in the next issue of the SWAN.


Honouring our fallen heroes

2015 Cenotaph Memorial trip Our History Hot Scholars have been busy again this year and were invited by John Chester of the Western Front Association to lay a wreath during the Remembrance Ceremony at the London Cenotaph on 11th November 2015.

The boys did the school proud and performed well under the pressure of the occasion, while getting a real sense of what Remembrance Day is all about. In attendance at the wreath laying ceremony were representatives of the Armed Forces, the ‘Khaki Chums’ and other dignitaries. The boys were even shown on the national news coverage of the event! The day concluded with a trip to the Imperial War Museum and a look around their World War 1 exhibit. A big thank you to David Cummings and the Christleton Local History Group, who kindly provided funds for the boys to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity. Nick Broughton (Year 10): “Thank you to the Western Front Association and Christleton Local

History Group. We had a fantastic and thought provoking time both at the Cenotaph Memorial and the Imperial War Museum.” Daniel Richards (Year 9): “My time in London was fantastic. I laid the wreath with my brother during the ceremony, which was amazing. I also found the Imperial War Museum fascinating and interesting.” Danny Traynor (Year 8): “The ceremony was incredibly moving and I learned a lot from the Imperial War Museum.” Sahil Bareja (Year 8): “The trip was very memorable and something I will never forget. Thank you to all who helped organise the trip and provide us with this opportunity during such an important day.”

Nesscliffe is a training camp for Cadets held every year at Nesscliffe Training Centre. The camp is aimed mainly at Air Cadets and runs from a Sunday to the following Friday, however the activities on offer are available to all Cadet Services.

These activities include, but are not limited to: shooting, climbing, clay pigeon shooting, radio communications and camouflage and concealment training.

Day 1: The first day at Nesscliffe began at 0700 hours. After breakfast, the morning was spent rock climbing on a simulated cliff face. Shooting followed lunch, using two different weapons. The first weapon used is a no 8 bolt action rifle, a .22 version of the Lee Enfield. The second weapon used is the L98, a modified

Nesscliffe 2015......preparing our cadets for action


SA80, the British Army’s current rifle.

Day 2: This was the longest day of the week as it started at 0530 hours and went on until 2200 hours, to include day exercise and night exercise. These are exercises in which the Cadets in their flights are able to use their camouflage, navigation and team working skills in a practical setting. The Cadets must have ration packs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Day 3: The day started with radio communications. The Officer in charge of the radio commas made us all march whilst singing and acting ‘Head, shoulders, knees and toes’. Staying in time was difficult….but not impossible. The day finished with clay pigeon shooting, archery, and crossbow.

Day 4: The final active day consisted of field exercise. This is the less mature younger brother of day exercise, and uses most of the same skills as day exercise but runs to normal timings, 0700 hours – 1600 hours. As with day exercise, field exercise is aimed at allowing the Cadets to use their camouflage, navigation, and radio communication skills in a practical environment.

Two days were spent preparing to go to Nesscliffe and then to leave again. Overall, the Nesscliffe camp is extremely enjoyable, but tiring, and enables Cadets to complete activities that they would otherwise be unable to do.

Greg Adderley

Lest We Forget Armistice Day 2015

Flight Lieutenant Hollywood, Contingent Commander CCF, led Cadets, students

and staff in a two-minute silence at 11:00am on 11 November, commemorating

the signing of the armistice, which ended World War One at Compiegne on 11

November 1918, and remembering the Nation’s war dead in conflicts throughout

history. Flying Officer J Hudson, SSI


As part of their ‘Wildlife Conservation’ topic, Year 13 students were treated to a highly informative presentation from Bernard Wright of The Broxton Barn Owl Group. Some of what they learnt is here.

What do they look like? The Barn Owl is a much loved British bird with its distinctive white heart shaped facial disc and its predominately white breast/under part. They are mainly nocturnal and hunt by sound and by sight. They have an acute sense of hearing and can detect the slightest movement and sound of their prey. The forward facing aspect of

the eyes gives it binocular vision (seeing an object with both eyes at the same time) and enables the owl to judge the distance of its prey more accurately. The eyes are fixed in their sockets so that they are unable to move thus limiting peripheral vision but to compensate for this the owl can rotate its head through 360 degrees.

Where do they live and what do they eat? Barn Owls occupy open country or farmland with rough tussocky grassland, typically along field margins, ditches, woodland edge, and young plantations where a high density of small mammals (its food) can be supported. The Barn Owl hunts mainly by night but can be seen before dusk and around dawn particularly during the breeding season when feeding young. Once the prey has been detected the owl will hover momentarily then swoop down stretching its legs and talons forward into the long grass and onto its prey. The prey is normally swallowed whole or taken directly back to the nest site to feed the young owlets.

Barn Owl!(Latin Name – Tyto alba)

What about breeding? The Barn Owl will choose one of its many roosting places as its breeding site which may be in an old barn, a bale stack, a tree hole or a purpose built nesting box. The female will usually lay between 4 and 6 white eggs but this could be higher if prey is abundant. Records show that the survival rate for juvenile Barn Owls in their first year is only about 30% - most will have unfortunately died during the winter months due to starvation, because of their inexperience in hunting in winter conditions and the reduction in small mammal prey at this time of the year.

The really important bit – why are their numbers in decline and what can be done to help them? National surveys showed there has been a staggering 85% decline in Barn Owl numbers in Cheshire over 50 years, which is more than the 69% recorded nationally.

The decline is due to a number of reasons including:

• Loss of suitable habitat as a result of land development and modern farming practices

• Loss of suitable nest and roost sites, through felling of mature trees and conversion of farm buildings

• Changes in weather patterns

• Road deaths which account for approximately 50% of all recorded Barn Owl deaths

The conservation group work with landowners and members of the local community to improve habitats with wildlife corridors, erection of nesting boxes and by promoting the general awareness to the plight of the Barn Owl.

For more information go to www.bbog.co.uk/index.html

Year 13 Biologists

Biologists go


Who is it? In a new feature, using ‘either or’ answers to some simple questions and through a life-like caricature, can you guess which prominent staff member is being described?

RED OR BLUECOFFEE OR TEABOOK OR MAGAZINEDRIVER OR PASSENGERCHINESE FOOD OR INDIAN FOODMAC OR IPADROCK OR POPCAT OR DOGPHONE OR TEXTDOCTOR OR DENTISTSMART OR CASUALBMW OR MERCEDESPIZZA OR PASTABATMAN OR SUPERMANCOMEDY OR THRILLEREARLY BIRD OR NIGHT OWLHEAD & SHOULDERS OR JUST FOR MENTWIX OR MARSTWITTER OR INSTAGRAMSUMMER OR WINTERGOLF OR TENNISBROWN SAUCE OR KETCHUPCRICKET OR RUGBYMOVIE OR BOX SETUNION OR LEAGUE

Physicists Assess the RiskIn October 2015, the Year 13 Physicists took the annual pilgrimage to Alton Towers to investigate the Physics of Fairground Rides and support their learning of this key A2 topic. The emphasis this year was to understand how the rides were designed to give thrill and excitement but also to think about how risk is managed. Despite it being the first day of Scarefest and the weather being dry and sunny, Alton Towers was very quiet. The students managed to make extensive use of the quiet theme park and were able to go on ride after ride after ride without queuing.

Student SuccessIn July 2015, Tess Corr was awarded “Young Physicist of the Year” along with students from a number of schools across the Chester and Merseyside STEM area. The award is presented by The Ogden Trust in conjunction with Liverpool John Moores University. It was presented at an awards evening at Spaceport, Seacombe where there was an opportunity to talk with professional Physicists and Astronomers, view the Dr Who exhibition and attend an astronomy lecture by Professor Andy Newsam.

Physics News


Cor blimey! Would you Adam and Eve it? Forget Walford, we’ve moved “norf of the rivah” to Camden, the setting for the Madness musical, “Our House”. In essence, this show is in the tradition of an ‘Everyman’ morality tale. Joe Casey (Greg James) grows up in Casey Street, Camden NW1 in a house (the ‘our house’ of the title) and estate originally built by his grandfather. But things have gone downhill since then. His Dad (Max Enston) died after a career of criminality based on a series of increasingly bad choices, so Joe has been brought up by his long-suffering single mum, Kath (Jamilla Spauls). He is a popular figure at school, but in the course of a minor break-in, motivated by a desire to impress his girlfriend, Sarah, (Brogan Craine) Joe has to make a crucial

choice . . . does he give himself up to the police closing in on him or make a run for it?

The musical explores both choices alongside each other and asks us to reflect on which would have been better. The Joe who runs away, escapes the law, and after a minor career in crime goes into property development creating great material success. Through his calculated charity and good deeds, he even wins back Sarah. He is the envy of his friends and the local community until he gets involved with the very man whose flat he broke into, originally. In the course of one final big job, he risks undermining everything in a basic act of betrayal. Is his a success story, or has he sold his soul, right from the start?

The alternative Joe takes the rap for breaking and entering, but gets more than he bargained for in the form of a prison sentence and discovering that there is no such thing as “doing time pays for the crime”. After being released, he is dogged by his initial mistake. He faces prejudice and rejection as he naively proclaims that he is proud to be an ex-offender and sinks further into unintended crime. Virtue is not valued as any sort of reward as he has to face the contempt and loss of all his friends, including – apparently – Sarah. The two stories merge quite deftly at the end and the community is preserved.

This is a jukebox musical where a highly successful back catalogue of popular songs by 80’s ska band, Madness, is shoehorned into a dramatic narrative. Good houses are built on solid foundations and Tim Firth is a highly respected playwright and film director, who is currently turning his highly successful film, “Calendar Girls” into a musical with Gary Barlow of “Take That”. Clearly influenced by the film, “Sliding Doors” and Willy Russell’s musical, “Blood Brothers” this show has excellent parentage.

The energy, commitment, and superb acting, singing, playing, dancing and technical wizardry demonstrated in this school’s production was a joy to watch. From the excellent band’s overture with wonderfully “smoky” sax playing, to the final ensemble number, there were excellent performances from a cast who supported and totally complemented each other. The show, which is largely about community and its importance, was made real by the whole ensemble. The brightly coloured “cartoonish” set, clever use of projections and multi-levelled staging were employed extremely well, especially in the ensemble pieces, which gave us many of the greatest hits like, “Our House”, “Baggy Trousers” and “Wings of a Dove”. The whole cast seemed tireless in their performance energy which seemed to re-energise with each full company production number.

usicalMadness!


Individually, there were many impressive performances, none more so than Greg James’s dual role as Joe Casey. His ability to switch from naïve, young man to slick, slime-ball “entrepreneur” within seconds was amazing. Not only has he great acting ability, both vocally and visually, he was so believable in both roles, but he is also blessed with an excellent singing voice, which projected the lyrics clearly and perceptively: he can also dance! Greg was partnered, equally impressively, by Brogan Craine as Sarah. Not only was her emotional journey beautifully performed but vocally, for me, she produced the highlight of the night, with her deeply felt and stunningly acted and sung performance of “NW5”. Jamilla Spauls was completely convincing as Kath, and her Irish accent, set against the rest of the cast’s “Camdenese” was a brilliant detail, linked to the social history of Irish navvies working in the late 1900s to build the London

Underground, marrying local girls and producing men like Joe’s

grandfather who literally built himself a role in

his community. Max

Enston had the interesting role of Dad, who as a sort of narrator figure, similar to the role in “Blood Brothers”, attempted to direct his son to make better choices, than he did. He was a menacingly good ghostly presence who blended well in the vocal duets he had with other cast members. Much of the comedy came from the excellent pairs of friends of Joe and Sarah. Alex Haggart and Nathan Houlbrook as Emmo and Lewis had wonderful comic timing and judged the mix of laddish brashness and little-boy vulnerability, perfectly. They were a great double act. Kelly Stevens and Katie Trafford were equally good as Sarah’s sharply acidic fairy godmothers! They both had great stage presence. Although Joe Casey is presented as both “goodie” and “baddie”, there are two “Baddies” in the show, Reecey and Mr Pressman. It doesn’t matter whether crooks are “small-time” or “big-time”, they’re still crooks. Christian Castle caught all the swagger and corruptive influence of the “lad on the make”, but possibly more sinister was Meredydd Jones’s Mr. Pressman, whose interview with both Joes was an object lesson in corporate seediness. All the other small roles were well acted. I particularly enjoyed Osian Williams as Sarah’s nerdy boyfriend.

Massive congratulations must also go to the bricks and

mortar of the

production, the “sparks” (lighting) and sound technical teams whose work is only commented on if it goes wrong! Leaping up and down the aural scaffolding, the sound crew managed to get everyone’s voice in focus and without feedback or distortion. I could have done without the overuse of the roll of thunder cliché, which was meant to signal the switch between the two Joes, but that’s just personal taste. The use of projection was very imaginative. I liked the use of opening doors to reinforce the element of choice, and the effects for “Driving in my Car” were brilliant – the “Star Wars” sequence, especially. I suspect, however, that I was not the only one who, for the first few seconds, was unnerved by the effect of the car being driven at speed, in reverse, down the road!

Much of the thanks must go to the backstage crew, the producers, directors, costume, make-up and props department and everyone else who kept the mixer topped up and rolling to cement this show together.

“Our House” was a “show house” of the amazing collaborative work produced by several departments and the amazing opportunities offered by the Christleton Musicals Apprenticeship Scheme which is building brilliance for the future, as seen by the number of ex-students who came back to be part of the show’s crew. This is one amazing school property, which can’t be overvalued.

Howard Kane



About Sophie Clark’s wolf, Abi Pine said: “This piece is very good; it shows good quality drawing, painting and star scribble all in good combination. It also demonstrates a good use of symmetry.”

About Anna Kew’s work, Arabella Wagner said: “I really appreciate how this really shows thoughts about a chocolate factory. I also like the way that Anna has created a shadow underneath the world and blended colours so well.”

Maddie Clerkin is a Y10 Fine Art student and an Art Hot Scholar. She asked some of her Y10 peers to review a number of last year’s Y11 pieces of

art and here is what they said...

About Maisie Pagett’s African Shoebill Stork stamps, Ellie Partridge said,”I like the fact this work represents the idea of motherhood by means of a bird that is known as a good mother. It was made for a charity that works for safe motherhood and it shows the natural instinct of mothering a baby. I also like the way each stamp is different; no two designs are alike.”

About Billy Walsh’s stamp designs, Hania Arthur said: “I thought the blending and graduated tone were really well demonstrated in this work. It is very bright colourful and I love the mark-making.”

About Hannah Jones’ bird skull, Maggie Corr said: “In the bird skull, I really like how intricate the star scribble is because the artist has done it very subtly. I also like the astonishing use of graduated tone.”

About Maisie Pagett’s rhino, Matty Duffy said: “I like the limited amount of colour and the biro star scribble was extremely well done because it is so small and neat. Great graduated-tone too!”

About Izzy Bowman’s sheep skull, Beth Layder said: ”I really appreciate the mark-making; I also like how intricate and finely-detailed it all is. Great use of a biro!”

About Kiran Randhawa’s painting, Lizzie Glading said: “I think the attention to detail is very good and the artist has used a wide variety of tones effectively. She has also used mark-making well to show facial contours.”

About Emma Collins’ work for the Stroke Association, Tom Martin said: “Very clever use of biro, and good use of Photoshop. She has displayed a very good understanding how someone with a stroke can lose total control of one side of their face.”

Year 10’s GCSE Art Review


Remembering the fallen

on Remembrance Day

and Armistice Day

Remembrance Day is one of the most recognised days in the world. The guns fell silent in 1918 at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month. Now we remember all the lives lost in the two World Wars and later conflicts to make the world a safer place. A two-minute silence is held on Remembrance Sunday, the closest Sunday to Remembrance Day, and on Armistice Day.As an RAF CCF Cadet, I was able to take part in Remembrance Parades together with other RAF, Army, and Navy Cadets. On Sunday, 8th November 2015, the CCF Cadets took part in a parade through Chester; we marched from Bridge Street up to the Cathedral. At the Cathedral, we took part in a Service to remember and honour all the people who lost their lives for their country.

Towards the end of the Service, we formed up as a parade outside near the War Memorial where the Last Post was played and a two-minute silence held. A wreath was placed on the memorial, and the Reveille played to signal the end of the silence and the Service. From there, everyone marched back past the library in Chester to where we fallout as a parade. It was quite an experience to see and be a part of the parade, especially as this was my first time. I would like to do it again, but unfortunately, this is my last year in the school, and therefore, in the CCF.

On Armistice Day, 11th November 2015, the CCF Cadets all took part in a school parade and silence to remember and honour all who have died in war. The Cadets formed up in two flights, the last post was played, and the silence was held. Flight Lieutenant Hollywood gave a speech about the lives lost and from there the silence was held. Many people gathered around the Cadets, took part in the silence, and paid their respects.

To see the experience is incredible but to take part is amazing. Being part of the RAF Cadet Force (CCF) is a great experience and I would thoroughly recommend it, just from this experience alone.Joshua Rimmer

Christleton High School RAF Cadets Remembrance Parade in ChesterEarly Sunday morning on the 8th November 2015, members of the RAF Cadet Force (CCF) from our school marched through Chester city centre as part of the city’s Remembrance Service parade.

The morning began with us all ‘buddying up’ and checking that uniforms were well presented and in pristine condition for the occasion. We marched through Chester headed towards the Cathedral.

The Cathedral was bursting with serving members of the Armed Forces, Cadets, dignitaries, parents, and members of the public. During the Service, our Cadets were able to hear a sermon from Capt. Rev Paul Robinson CF, Chaplain to 75 Engineer Regiment. The Cadets’ conduct was superb and it was clear that they were struck by the importance and poignancy of the occasion, particularly as it was our first year, as a contingent, to attend such an important service of commemoration and thanksgiving. The integrity and dignity of all involved and the overwhelming support of the public made me feel proud to be part of it.

A collection of words from the remembrance day service such as “how hateful is the panoply of war”, “for reconciliation between the nations, that all people may, together, live

in freedom, justice and peace”; “forgiveness” these words

humbled me and I shed a tear, because that

is what I am about. That is why I volunteered to be a reservist for the RAF.

Flt Lt Ian HollywoodContingent

Commander RAFVR (T)


Destinations, destinations... where did our Sixth formers go?

Class of 201599 received places, the vast majority at their first-choice university

41 students got into Russell Group Universities:

Durham Andrew Baldacchino (Physics) Bethan Hosker (Modern Languages and Cultures) Cillian Reboul (Business and Management) Ellie Mageean (Psychology)Leeds Katy Boyce (Medicine) Rosie Chatfield (Geography) Mia Connolly (Geography and Spanish) Ella Hodgkiss (Biochemistry) Harry Killoran (Geography) Elena Mianzan (Environmental Science)Bristol Eve Cornwell (Law) Amy Henderson (English Literature)Imperial Jenny Finnerty (Chemistry)Birmingham Jonas Grader (Physiotherapy)Newcastle Chris Harrington (Mechancial Engineering), Lydia Ward (International Business Management)Manchester Mark Hearn (Medicine) Rebecca Neary (Psychology) Emma Russell (Pharmacy)York Jordan Stevens (Politics & International Relations) Jenny Tilston (Law) Katherine Weddell (Chemistry) Catherine Lau (Philosophy)Liverpool Emma Jones (Law) Brendan Ward O’Brien (Chemistry) Tom Joesbury (Geography) Elliot Tong (Mechanical Engineering)Sheffield Sophie Pine (History) Lydia Price (History) Emma Heath (Geography)Warwick Sandeep Randhawa (Engineering)Cardiff Alice Rees (English Literature)LSE Jack Riley (Philosophy and Economics) Yidan Hou (Economics)Exeter Eve Riley (History and International Relations) Rebecca Nibbs (Geography)King’s College, London Patrick Spencer (Physics with Theoretical Physics)

The following students took up exciting new opportunities, too:

Chris Phillips took up a Higher LevelApprenticeship at BentleysShaun Coppock took up a Higher Level Apprenticeship at MBNAHarry Killoran took up a Scholarship to play Cricket in Australia, - before taking up a place to study Geography at Leeds in 2017Jordan Coxall took up a Sports Scholarship to play Football in USA

Congratulations to all of the CLASS OF 2015. We wish you a bright and happy future.

Picturesque ChesterPlaced proudly on the wall of the Grosvenor Museum Art gallery, is this interesting piece of artwork by Edmund Garvey. It is the impressive view painted from the South Bank of the River Dee Bridge.

Edmund Garvey, the painter, lived from 1764 until 1813, when he died at the age of 49. He uses his unique style and skills to really emphasise the beauty of Chester during the day only using his talent, brush and paint. He does this in a way that shows you how Chester must have looked during the 1700’s.

His stunning talent is really portrayed in the painting, when you look at it, the water seems to sparkle and glimmer in the light and the figures are painted in a way which makes them look so realistic. The people in the painting seem almost real as they fish and stroll by the river.

In my opinion, the painting doesn’t need many words to describe it as the painting does that for itself. From the intricate cathedral in the background to the bold bridge that also features. It is a truly phenomenal painting and really shows Chester to its full potential.

Natasha Lawrence


Part 1 Cadets engaged in some Adventurous Training (AT) consisting of navigation, rock climbing; team building, mountain biking and high ropes, which was hosted at Capel Curig Training Camp, a Joint Service Mountain Training Centre near Betws-y-Coed, North Wales.

Despite the difficult autumnal conditions, which tested the Cadets’ resolve, they put their all into the training. They have managed to build a good set of team working and leadership skills, which will be relevant both back on unit, and for any future endeavours.

The CCF training programme strives to deliver Adventure Training every term to Cadets; further opportunities will be available in February half term.

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CCF Updates...RAF Cadet Force – Part 1 Cadets

Over the last few weeks in CCF, we have done various activities, like fieldwork, which includes camouflaging ourselves using green and brown paint, and then hiding in some undergrowth trying not to be spotted. We have learnt skills like First Aid, leadership, cooking for camp and in addition, we have learnt drill including marching. The CCF provides many opportunities and there are many more opportunities in the future to do fun activities.

Cara Jones

At Cadets, you are given numerous new opportunities, which aren’t available anywhere else. There are many adventure weekends away where we do things like rock climbing and high ropes courses as well as trips to Gibraltar and Cyprus. Flight training is also something that you can do with the Cadets. You can learn to fly a plane so if you are interested in the Armed Forces it will definitely give you an advantage in that respect. I really enjoy being a Cadet; a beneficial experience that I won’t ever forget.

Ellie Carter

Being a Lance Corporal in the CCF has taught me to be confident, motivational, and assertive when working with the Cadets. Every group needs a strong leadership team and that is what the NCOs and Officers bring to the Squadron.

We get lots of opportunities to low ropes, field craft, flying to build on our leadership roles and team working skills. I personally believe these experiences have pushed my limitations and have taught me the value of being a senior rank in the RAF.

Jr Cpl Hope-Baines


On 14th October 2015, 21 students from Years 8 to 11 went to Winsford E-Act Academy to attend the 10th anniversary of the Annual Cheshire School Book Awards Launch Event.

It was hosted in the Academy’s Theatre and two authors attended – Jon Mayhew and Bryony Pearce. Jon Mayhew is the author of such books as ‘Mortlock’, ‘The Demon Collector’, and ‘The Bonehill Curse’, whereas Briony Pearce has authored ‘Angel’s Fury’, ‘The Weight of Souls’ and her most recent book, ‘Phoenix King’.

A selection of free cakes and biscuits were available for attendees, along with coffee, tea and other soft beverages, while a small stand sold books from the authors in attendance for £5 apiece. The show started with Jon Mayhew talking about his latest books and his ’Ten tips on how to become an author’. He was only on his third or fourth point when clearly expressing that he has an easily frightened nature, despite the paranormal aspect to the large majority of his books.

Bryony Pearce then took her turn advertising her books and describing her background. Then students, in attendance from multiple schools scattered across Cheshire, took turns asking each author questions such as ‘Which of your books would you most want to be adapted into a movie?’ and ‘What’s your favourite book?’ as well as the classic ‘What inspired you to write?’

After that, the seven books making up the final shortlist for the Cheshire Book Award were announced. These books were: ‘One’ by Sarah Crossan,

‘The Door That Led To Where’ by Sally Gardner, ‘Finding Aubrey’ by Sophie Kinsella, ‘Phoenix Rising’ by Bryony

Pearce, ‘After Walkers’ by Tom Becker and ‘13 Days of Midnight’ by Led Hunt.

The winner will be voted for by young readers and will be announced at a ceremony in June 2016. After the shortlist was announced, bookmarks were handed out to attendees and students could get their bookmarks and books signed by their authors respectively. Students then had a final opportunity to talk to the authors or buy a book before leaving and the Awards Trip ended.

Here are some opinions by students on some of the shortlisted books:Alex Bishop, 8Ba2 said about Jon Mayhew’s ‘Mortlock’, “It is set in Victorian times and is a kind of Gothic mystery book. It’s quite fast moving and has mythical creatures. It describes all the characters well and has a good variety of speech and text. The start is interesting as it is a flashback, which helps you with the rest of the story.”

After reading ‘Phoenix Rising’ by Bryony Pearce, May Fowles said, “I really enjoyed this book as it was fast-moving and the author built tension throughout the book. I liked the plot as it was very mysterious and thoughtful. The author could maybe have gone more in-depth with the characters and shown more emotion. Over all I

thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it.”

Edward Dunford said, ‘The Bonehill Curse’ is a suspenseful, fast-moving, exciting book recording the adventurous capers of Necessity Bonehill after she unleashes a creature of death upon London. Spiced with humour, this book is one of the best books of the decade, the pages almost turn themselves, and it’s impossible to put down.”

I have also read Bryony Pearce’s ‘The Weight of Souls’, about a young girl who can see murdered spirits and must avenge the deaths of those who touch her. However, when her school bully is murdered and she gets touched she must deal with a deep personal struggle and uncover a dangerous secret association and conspiracy. It’s an incredible, fast-moving book based on gothic and supernatural themes, which I would strongly recommend.

Last year’s winner was ‘Half Bad’ by Sally Green of Warrington, a book that has been compared to ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Twilight’, and ‘The Hunger Games’. Recently its movie rights were sold to Fox 2000. ‘Half Bad’ has broken two Guinness Book World Records for ‘the most translated book before publication for a debut author’ and ‘most translated children’s book before publication for a debut author’.

Jude Jones

The Cheshire School Book AwardsThe Cheshire School Book Awards


In the last edition of The Swan we shared the vision and rationale for establishing a Studio School. In summary this is: Studio Schools are a new type of state school typically for around 300 students. They are aimed at 14-19 year olds of all abilities, and are designed to better prepare young people for future employment. Our Studio will adopt a new approach to learning with a focus on teaching through enterprise projects, personalisation and actual work experience. This will ensure students’ learning enables them to understand and relate to employers’ needs, and helps them to develop their talents into skills and experience they need to flourish in life.

Why are we creating a Studio?Our school is over-subscribed and provides a very good education for most of our students. We wish to diversify and provide an alternative pathway channelling talent with the guidance of local and national employers. We want to do this for a small minority of our students, and of the wider community. We believe the school will benefit by cross-fertilisation of ideas and staff development.

Who might choose to go to the Studio?Students who enjoy more holistic learning, and active problem-solving. We anticipate that about 10% (20 per year) of our students may opt for the Studio. The remaining places will be allocated to students from a much wider area.

Progress over the last few monthsWe have completed the necessary training and planning to be allowed to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma and Career-Related Programmes. This normally takes two years but the IB European Team senior management have reviewed our case, and are so impressed they have agreed a fast track approach to enable us to begin courses when the Studio opens in September 2016. My thanks go to Julie Jones for her work in this area.

We have held a number of events for students aged 14 and 16, who would be eligible to start next September. The events have been very well attended and we already have over a third of the available places secured by a formal admissions request. If you or your son/daughter are considering the Studio, now is the time to ask the necessary questions and make the commitment. At the moment about 20% of the place requests have come from CHS students. The Department for Education and Education Funding Agency are responsible for securing and developing an appropriate building and site for the Studio. Our consultation with you and with a wider Cheshire and North Wales audience, indicated that a city centre location was highly preferred in terms of transport links, availability to employers, and also to give this exciting project the status it deserves. I have been told by the DfE that although negotiations are well underway we cannot comment on these publicly. We have been delighted with the response from employers, small and large, who have supported the concept, given us ideas about how best to deliver work-related learning, and with offers of placements both long and short term. If you or your employer would like to be involved with the project, please contact me directly and we can share the aims, values and opportunities for employers working with us.

The next few months• As students begin option planning in their own schools, we expect the remaining 30 places in Year 10 to be taken.• The post-16 admissions process occurs in December and January and we are visiting schools and holding events to share the Studio offer and, in particular, the prestigious International Baccalaureate programmes.• We hope to be able to confirm the location of the Studio premises.• The CIS website will expand to contain all the details families want, along with the statutory policies, school calendar and contact details.• We will be contacting confirmed admissions and holding taster events, which will enable students to practice their journeys and experience the exciting new way of learning. If you have any questions, ideas or comments, we would be delighted to respond. Please mark these for my attention and send to [email protected] In the interim, can I thank you for your interest and support. Tony Lamberton

studio school

Update


On Wednesday, 21st October 2015 to the 23rd, we went to Wales to explore and learn about how flooding is managed in Wales and how some areas rebranded to diversify.

The Year 12 Conwy Fieldtrip was an educational experience where we were able to develop teamwork skills, communication skills and resilience. During our time in Conwy we worked in groups to carry out our necessary fieldwork. We also participated in surveying locals on topics of interest such as flooding in their area and used specialist equipment to gather data on the area’s river systems. We mainly visited two areas to conduct our research, for flooding we did our investigation in Llanrwst, in the Conwy Valley, at the edge of the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales where we studied a river to deduce whether it was at risk of flooding.

We went to Llanberis, a stunning town, centralised around community and old fashioned architecture, to do surveys to find out if the area is in need of rebranding.

From sketching beautiful views to measuring the water depth and velocity of the streams for 3 days, with the great weather and the cheerful moods there were some great memories made which we will never forget. While staying at the Conwy Centre we had an unexpected awakening at 3:20 am, where we were forced to exit the building in our pyjamas, which contributed to the many entertaining stories that the trip has resulted in. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the “Welsh Wales” and thank our incredibly tolerant teachers for putting up with us for a full three days.

TEXTILES CLUBMonday (week B)

and Friday (week A and B). Now on Thursday

for Year 712.15—1pm

in A11


Year 11 students enjoyed a really successful Work Experience Week earlier this term and the feedback from the employers involved has been extremely positive. Here’s what some of our students thought about their placement weeks: -

Whitby High School: Alexander Haggart 11L1I really enjoyed my time helping as a teacher and I learnt many things about being a teacher. I asked plenty of questions to help my knowledge and understanding in a school environment. The highlight of my week was getting to know the students there and the fact that they all said they wanted me back the week after half term.

J.R. Johnson & Son Dairy Farm: Bryn Heard 11Ba1. For work experience, I went to J.R Johnson and sons Dairy Farm; the week was full of new, exciting, and learning experience activities. The first thing that I could tell I had learnt was how to act and behave around livestock. This skill sounds easy but if you do not do it correctly, things can go wrong and you can end up in serious danger. I learnt about the diet of the calves and other livestock, this will help me in the future and can give me good knowledge of animals.When I got into the flow of work experience, I then learnt how to milk a cow. This was very interesting, as I had no idea how to do this before my work experience; it was a big surprise that the machines do most of the work. At first, I struggled, as there are certain techniques that must be used so as not to spook the cow. Once I had learnt

the basics, I put them into practice and did this for each day of work experience. Then I carried out some small jobs that needed doing, one of which was a very ‘cute’ and funny job; bottle feeding the calves. I had to fill up the bottle with certain amounts of calcium chunks, milk and boiling water to make sure it was correct for the calf. Once the bottle was ready, Tim (the owner) and I went into the enclosures, which held the calves and started to feed each calf one bottle each. Personally, I found this very exciting, fun and entertaining as well as good for experience in handling young livestock. I believe I will benefit from this experience very much as I have learnt key Dairy Farm skills that will help me in the future to come.

Christleton Primary School: Courtney Chadwick 11L1I enjoyed my time as it was interesting to see what methods teachers use to educate younger children. It was also

interesting to see how the curriculum has changed

for children of that age; it has increased in difficulty and the students are expected to know much more, far sooner. However, I also found it very difficult while I was there. This is because it is very difficult to teach young children new things without giving them the answer or confusing them by using different methods to those that they have already been taught. Overall, I found the experience helpful because of learning how to act in a new environment and how quickly you have to pick things up to do well.

a great

Back Row: Georgia Ashworth; Bryn Heard; Romey Davies; Ewan Hearn; Jessica Dunning, and Vicky Tate

Front Row: Lauren Noden; Holly Davies; Jenny Wilkinson and Danielle Adams

Smiling Students show that Work Placements have been

success!


Ethan Davies Trust: Danielle Adams 11K1For my work experience, I worked at the ‘Ethan Davies Trust’ as a support worker. The best moment was when I was able to interact with the client. I found that the job was very much as I expected it to be, and it was interesting, as so much goes into the job and so much has to be remembered correctly for the clients.

Barrow Primary School: Georgia Ashworth 11K1 The school day starts at 8:45 am and finishes either at 3:05 pm or at 3:15 pm depending on whether it is infants or juniors as they finish at different times. I preferred the younger classes to the older ones as they are all adorable and lovely to work with. They are all very friendly and like to tell you a lot about themselves especially stories in show and tell etc. The main skills I learnt were general administration duties and First Aid. I learnt that I work better with infants than I do juniors. The best part of going to a primary school was going back to where I went to school and to see how its changed; it’s also nice how the children look up to you as I was a lot older. The hardest part was trying to explain to the children that I was a teacher while at the school as they saw me as one of them. Another thing that was interesting was to see what the childrens’ academic skills were like for their age; I was surprised by how knowledgeable the children were for their age. The most helpful thing was gaining a more realistic idea of working life in general. My advice for people when planning on where to do their work experience is don’t leave it until last minute and make sure it’s got something to do with what you want to do when you’re older, this way you can benefit from the placement and will enjoy the week ahead.

Maltby’s of Chester: Harry Maltby 11L1The company I was working with was called ‘Maltby’s of Chester’ it is a well-known company based in the centre of Chester. Maltby’s offers a range of

floorings for everyone such as hard flooring, carpets, vinyl’s etc. My days started at 8 o’clock when I first arrived at the shop and checked the bank to establish what payments had been received, and what needed to be paid out. As the week went on, I was doing different jobs around the shop. My experience at Maltby’s was good as I learnt many new skills that I could be using in the near future. The jobs I was given were answering the telephones to customers, helping the customers in the shop, writing up invoices and pro-formers and taking stock checks. I also had two days with the fitters going into the customer’s house and fitting the new flooring. The key things I learnt over the week at Maltby’s is to always speak to a customer as you would want to be treated yourself, and always double check your information when working on invoices and pro-

formers, because if these aren’t right the business could get in to trouble. As I hope to be taking this business over when I am older this is a good start and insight to what I may

be doing when In the future.

Elton Primary School: Holly Davies 11K1

I had to be in the school by 7:45 am but the children didn’t arrive at school until 8:30 am. The end of the school day was at 3:00 pm in the infants and 3:15 pm in the juniors. On Monday, I was working in Reception in the morning and Year 3 in the afternoon; I enjoyed working with the Reception more than the Year 3s. I think this is because it is more interactive in Reception than it is in Year 3. When I was working in Reception I did jolly phonics with them and the students learnt how to write and say O, G and once they had worked on letters I did words with them, they learnt Dog, The, Dad and Mum. The children also did Find, Use, Return (FUR).

Sports Coaching: Jack Bailey 11L1I did my work experience with Judith Gilmore, attending primary schools teaching sports to children. I found it

interesting as I really enjoy playing sport. I have always loved sports

and to experience work involving sport was really good, and from the first day, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed going back to my old school to see all my old teachers. It was

interesting meeting lots of new people and working with

them. When I was working, I went with an adult who also worked for Judith; by working with an adult, I could learn from them to apply to my teaching. I found that using a loud voice to make the student listen was important, as well as teaching the students sports that are interesting so that they enjoy themselves. By working with Judith and her team, I have an idea of what I would like to do when I leave school. I would like to work for Judith as I really enjoyed my time there. I have now volunteered at Guilden Sutton Primary School (my primary school) to help after school on a Thursday teaching hockey.

Twirl of Hay Restaurant: Jenny Wilkinson 11L1During my week, I learnt new skills in the hospitality industry. I learnt how restaurants work as a team, for example, some staff clear and set tables ready for the next customers whilst the rest of the staff serve food to tables. In addition, I learnt that the restaurant is open all day and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The staff

was very kind and went out of their way to show me what

work is like. I enjoyed my time and gained many new skills. However, work in the hospitality industry has very

long hours and is very tiring as you are on your feet all day.

Double Tree Chester: Jessica Dunning 11K1I worked in the Conference and Events sector with eleven different people during the week including the (acting)

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help to start with but was allowed to complete the task on my own after that. Once they were removed, one of the workers at the garage and I worked on lapping valves into their seats. This took about 3 to 4 hours and I carried out other similar tasks during my placement. The working day was an extra one and a half hours longer than a school day. During my time at the garage, I worked on many types of cars, for example vans, hatchbacks and estates, and one car, which I helped fix the exhaust on, was a racing spec Porsche 911. Overall, it was a good experience and I feel I have learnt new things and am more prepared for the future Goonhilly Earth Station: Edward Jones 11Ba1 I spent my work experience week in Cornwall on the Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd site. I went there as I saw it as a great opportunity because I actually see myself doing a job with engineering, physics, or other sciences. Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is a large telecommunications site located on Goonhilly Downs, near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, England, UK. First thing on Monday morning, we had the safety briefing, and then read the tasks for the day, started working, and researching so we could plan how to achieve what we needed to do by the end of the week. This consisted of learning what everything would mean when I carried out the morning rounds. Another employee and I carried out morning rounds, checking to ensure that all of the antennas were working properly.

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Pictured: Owen Bennett, Harry Maltby, Alexander Haggart, and Jack Bailey

Events Manager, the Manager of Food and Beverages and the Conferences Supervisor. During the week, I carried out all front of house work, as this is what interested me the most. The main thing I learned from my experience in this sector is how much I prefer setting up for events and conferences than I do serving and being there throughout the actual event. On the first day, I did many more simple things as I was not used to where everything was or my way around the hotel. This included gathering cutlery for a large afternoon meal, putting together some condiments and then drinking glasses. Hetty Nursery: Lauren Noden 11Ba1Throughout the week, I played with the children teaching them numeracy skills and intellectual skills. The week was beneficial as I learnt what it is like to work within a nursery and what the everyday work is like. Every day the children would spend time with the teacher of the nursery and this would include singing and phonics skills. The children benefitted from this because they could understand what the phonics for different objects were and what colours certain items were. My nursery placement helped me with my Health coursework on assessing the dangers of not applying care values to your everyday work and what would happen if certain guidelines were not in place.

SRFD Coaching: Owen Bennett 11L1My work experience was with a company called SRFD, which is a sport coaching company. Coaches who work for SRFD go into lots of different sports

activities with children aged between 6 and 10 years old. They do many different sports with children such as hockey, football, tag rugby and multi skills.My favourite day was Tuesday because I went to Oldfield Primary School and coached football all afternoon. I coached Year 5 first and started the coaching with a quick warm up to get the children active. This lasted for 5 minutes before I divided the children up into 4 teams and then started the small tournament. Two teams played on one pitch with the other two playing on the next pitch. I did the same session again with the Year 6s. After school, it was Football Training so I started with a quick passing and shooting drill, which lasted 10 minutes. After this, I then organized another tournament and let them play for the rest of the session. Overall, I enjoyed my work experience as it was fun coaching the children and I was active for the whole day. I learnt many things during my work experience

such as how to get along well with the children and I learnt some

new activities to use if I coach again.

Capricorn Animal Rescue: Romey Davies 11L1

I carried out my one-week work experience at Capricorn

Animal Rescue, near Mold, Wales. I decided to go here because I knew it would be beneficial to what I would like to do in further education and as a career. I enjoyed my time at the rescue because I was doing something different every day I was there. I had the chance to

work with all the different animals that were at the rescue centre, whether I was cleaning them out, feeding them, or spending time with them to make them less nervous around people. I now have experience of building rabbit hutches and walking dogs, being around and cleaning out cats, chickens, ferrets,

birds, guinea pigs and rabbits.

Lloyds Bank: Samuel Thomas 11K1Through work experience I think that I have been given a more realistic view of

what working life in general would be if I decided to go

into banking. I found the job quite interesting but very much as I

had expected it would be. My employer described my overall performance throughout the week as excellent overall, and stated, “It has been a pleasure to have worked with Samuel in my branch this week as he has taken each task I have set for him in his stride”.

NWD Architects: Sophie Runciman 11L1 During the week, I visited a number of projects the company was involved in and then cooperated in creating designs for one of their newer projects. I found the site visits interesting as they showed me different aspects of the architectural profession. At the end of the week, I created 3D models of the buildings using CAD and created my own design for one of the new builds. I found the experience really interesting and useful because it has shown me what the architectural profession is like.

The Range Medical Centre: Vicky Tate 11K1When I first arrived, I was introduced to the reception staff and the computer system. It seemed very complicated, and I was thrown in at the deep end and out straight on reception. It was very daunting checking in my first patient but another receptionist named Joanne helped me and made it less scary. I spent a while booking in patients; I made a few mistakes but Joanne was sympathetic and calmed me down and

5



told me it was not my fault. Next, I moved on to answering the phone as well. I felt it was worse than having someone in front of you; the connection sometimes was not great so I struggled to hear the patient, meaning I had to ask them to repeat themselves. It was harder to deal with people who I could not see and were being hard to handle. For the rest of the week, I switched between reception and the secretary’s office. I photocopied patient files and returned them to the filing cabinet they came out of to collect more and repeat the cycle. Overall, I enjoyed my work experience but would not consider this job for my future. I learnt many new skills such as how to talk to the customer in a way to make them feel looked after, and how to cope in stressful situations. The best moment of the whole week was meeting everyone and having such a warm welcome, which remained throughout the rest of the week.

University of Law: William Mackenzie 11K1After learning about the size and importance of the task of maintaining the building and its grounds, I asked if I could help the maintenance team on site for the rest of the week, whilst watching a few lectures in the week. On the third day, I sat in a lecture regarding the LLB course (Bachelor of Laws), an undergraduate scheme. This was another interesting lecture, which lasted 3 hours; it offered me an insight as to what options I have for the future. Throughout my period of work experience, I believe that I have been given a more realistic view of what life is like in a work place, and what it would be like if I decided to take a career in Law. My employer described my performance throughout the week as excellent overall, and he stated, “It has been a pleasure to work with Will this week and he has taken to every task with enthusiasm and diligence”.

KMA Chester Car repair and service garage: Ewan Hearn 11Ba1The garage was a nice place to work, as there was a relaxed atmosphere, which helped to keep me concentrated on the task. On the first day, I started work removing the valves on a cylinder head. I had help to start with but was allowed to complete the task on my own after that. Once they were removed, one of the workers at the garage and I worked on lapping valves into their seats. This took about 3 to 4 hours and I carried out other similar tasks during my placement. The working day was an extra one and a half hours longer than a school day. During my time at the garage, I worked on many

types of cars, for example vans, hatchbacks and estates, and one car, which I helped fix the exhaust on, was a racing spec Porsche

911. Overall, it was a good experience

and I feel I have learnt new things and am more

prepared for the future

Goonhilly Earth Station: Edward Jones 11Ba1I spent my work experience week in Cornwall on the Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd site. I went there as I saw it as a great opportunity because I actually see myself doing a job with engineering, physics, or other sciences. Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is a large telecommunications site located on Goonhilly Downs, near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, England, UK. First thing on Monday morning, we had the safety briefing, and then read the tasks for the day, started working, and researching so we could plan how to

achieve what we needed to do by the end of the week. This consisted of learning what everything would mean when I carried out the morning rounds. Another employee and I carried out morning rounds,

checking to ensure that all of the antennas were working

properly.

Calling all Year 10 Students…..Work Experience week is just ten months away!

Monday 24th to Friday 28th October 2016

The week before October half term next year is Work Experience week; this means that Year 11 students (our current Year 10) will be off-timetable for the week and be able to get valuable experience of the world of work and a possible future career.

Recent research has shown that in a highly competitive jobs market relevant work experience can make a big difference to students’ employability. Work Experience also helps with future decision making about careers; students can understand work likes and dislikes better, learn about an occupation and decide whether it is for them.

Students are encouraged to organise their own placements wherever possible; Mrs Varley can help with this, and further details will be given to students next term.

In the meantime, students are encouraged to make use of the ‘Search’ facility through U-Explore (www.u-xplore.com) to find all about the Related Job Roles that different interests and aspirations can lead to.

Local Employers: Can You Help?

If you are able to offer the chance for a fifteen / sixteen-

year old to have a week’s work experience with you,

please let us know. Contact Karen Varley [email protected]

A big thank you to all of the companies and

organisations that assisted and congratulations to all our Year 11 students!

Thanks also to Karen Varley for her help in keeping

things running so smoothly.

Thank You

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I am based here every Thursday and have been involved in activities such as guidance interviews, group work and talks with students.

This term I have already met individually with dozens of students from Year 9 upwards and

discussed future pathways choices. I have met with lots of Sixth Formers, many of whom are seriously thinking about whether the university option is most appropriate for them, as there are now other ways of gaining degree-level qualifications without

getting saddled with enormous student debts. Year 9 and Year 11 students have also

been keen to get appointments to discuss the options choices that lie ahead.

There are many options available to young people after they leave Year 11 – to join the Sixth Form, do a college course or employment with recognised training.

At this time of year, the apprenticeship vacancies are starting to appear and I thought that it would be interesting to find where the predicted future jobs are likely to be, as this will help our pupils make their career decisions. This information is from the National Careers Service…….

Employment Growth Areas in Cheshire & WarringtonCheshire and Warrington Local Economic Partnership is one of the strongest economies in England and its main challenge is to maintain and improve its economic performance. It has a strong economy with higher than average levels of manufacturing with particular strengths in the car industry, advanced manufacturing, and the chemicals and nuclear industries. There are strong economic links to nearby areas in Liverpool, Manchester, North Wales and West Midlands.

Important skills in this area

• Advanced engineering - Almost 30,000 people are employed in a range of advanced engineering activities including automotive production, consulting engineering, machinery manufacture and specialist engineering products, and scientific research & development. For this sector to grow and prosper, it is vital that this sector has access to skills that they need.

• Energy and environment - A prominent nuclear industry will play a key role in de-commissioning activity over the coming years and possible new build in the longer term. This will involve companies such as Sellafield Ltd, National Nuclear Laboratory, AMEX Nuclear and Urenco leading the way in design engineering and research and development for the industry. In order to grow and prosper, it is vital that this sector has access to the skills that it needs.

• Financial and professional services - More than 37,000 people are employed in financial services, legal and accounting services, management consultancy and head office activities. Employment within the sector has grown significantly in the past ten years and

News from Sylvia Wood, our Pathway Careers Advisor…

Hello Everyone! It’s Sylvia

Wood here again with another

sack-full of news of relating

to my role as the Pathway

Careers Advisor for

Christleton High School.


the prospects for continued growth are strong. The sector requires access to skills for working in contact centres (communication and customer care) and higher level skills in the finance sector.

• Information and communications technology (ICT) - ICT is an important sector for the sub region. It is a small sector with 15,000 employees but is one of the fastest growing sectors in the last ten years. The sector is expected to continue to create demand for higher level skills, especially in Science Technology Engineering and Maths related subjects. • Life sciences and chemicals - A nationally important concentration for life sciences is based in east Cheshire. Although AstraZeneca plan to move some of its workforce out of the area over the next few years it is anticipated that the Park becomes home to replacement organisations. A diverse chemical sector employs around 8,000 people with leading companies. Petrochemicals have been refined for many years with the Stanlow Refinery in Ellesmere Port. A broad range of skills will be `required for this diverse sector’.

Which are the main areas of growth?

In addition to the areas of growth shown above, the visitor economy, retail, and health & social care are also high employment sectors.

Making AppointmentsAny student who wishes to meet with me for help, support, advice or guidance related to careers and future pathways can make an appointment to see me through Mr Francis or Mrs Varley. I will also be available at most Parents’ Evenings at school and appointments to meet me can be arranged for this as well. I can also be contacted directly at [email protected]

I look forward to getting to know even more of you over the months ahead.

Sylvia WoodPathway Careers Advisor

Exciting Geographical Pathways Lie Ahead!

Over a third of last year’s 24 A Level Geography students are now studying Geography at university…As we approach the end of 2015, nine

of our A Level Geography students from last year’s Upper Sixth have just finished their first term studying their favourite subject at university.

Last year’s Geographers did particularly well in their A Level exams, with three of them gaining the highly-prized top A* grade at A Level. Our A* Geographers:

• Mia Connolly: Geography and Spanish: University of Leeds• Harry Killoran: Geography: University of Leeds• Rebecca Nibbs: Geography (Science): University of Exeter

The other half-dozen Uni-Geographers:

• Cameron Black: Human Geography: Leeds Metropolitan University• Rosie Chatfield: Geography: University of Leeds• Oliver Collier-Timpson: Human Geography: University of Lancaster• David Entwistle: Physical Geography: University of Swansea• Tomas Joesbury: Geography (Science): University of Liverpool• Emily-Ann Westoby: Geography: University of Swansea This impressive total is taken into double-figures by two 2014 students who have headed off to study

Geography at university after taking a Gap Year:

• Emma Heath: Geography: University of Sheffield• Kieran Herron: Human Geography: University of Keele

Congratulations to all our former Geographers and Good Luck for the Future!


With over fifty representatives from a vast array of different occupations on hand to give individual advice and an insight into what the job involves, our fourth annual Careers Information Evening was a great success. There was a great turnout of students from Years 9, 10, 11, and both lower and upper Sixth Formers, together with interested parents, which meant a busy night for all, and plenty of food for thought. As part of our on-going commitment to raising students’ aspirations and encouraging them to think about future pathways, the evening aimed to inspire students to find out more about the career paths available and to meet people from a variety of different occupations. Sylvia Wood, our Pathway Careers Advisor was also on hand, and was able to help with a wide range of general and specific enquiries. Feedback from students, parents, governors, and exhibitors was unanimously positive, and many of our students left with a real sense of purpose and direction about where their futures might lie. Many thanks to Mrs Varley and Mrs Charlton for all their help with organising the event, and particularly to all of the following representatives without whom the evening could not have happened: -

• Human Resources, Airbus - HR/Recruitment - Nicola Carter• Careers Advisor - Sylvia Wood• The Army - Lt Busby Williams & Cpl Jo Jones• The Royal Navy - Liverpool - COP Jayne Stroh• CSI - Police - Caroline Hunt• Baker Tilley - Accountants - Adam Goldthorpe & Ben Stenhouse• Aaron & Partners LLP - Solicitors - Bryony Cook• Thinkdewinter: Marketing & PR - Hems de Winter• Architect - Mark Powell• IT Consultant - Luke Packer• Software Engineering, IT operations - David Ross• Aviagen Turkeys Limited - Clay Burrows, Yasmin Bailey & Sam Jones• Chester Chronicle - Journalism - Dave Powell• Business/Administration - Barbara Lovering• Urenco - Business/Technical Careers - Peter Bradley• Jigsaw Curzon House Day Nursery - Claire Taylor & Team• Axbury Events Ltd - Mike Axon• Town Planner - Architecture - Andrew Pannell• STEM - Science Engineering Careers - Alfie Neild• Minerva Arts/ Minerva Youth Theatre - Steph Brocken• Manor Court Veterinary Centre - Richard Nolan & Tom• Macdonald Portal Golf and Spa Hotel - Steph Spain• Capenhurst Nuclear Services Limited (CNS) - Natalia Bennett & Team• Apprenticeships - Total People Ltd - Kathryn Taylor & Team• Apprenticeships: TTE - Malcolm Williams• Apprenticeships: Vauxhall Motors UK - Ellie McGee & Team• Apprenticeships: MPLOY Youth - Brian Lee• University Sports Degrees - Claire Fairhurst• David Campbell Soccer School - Courtney McGarrigle• LLS Sports Coaching Company - Mike Crockford• Reaseheath College - Matthew Williams• West Cheshire College - Mandy Hickinbottom & Team• The University of Law - Jane Mackenzie• Harper Adams University - Alice Morris• High School Teacher of PE - Emma Jones• Doctor - Dr Rebecca Searle• Specialist Nursing - Sarah Ellison• Clinical Psychologist - Dr Nadine Eisenburg• Consultant Clinical Psychologist - Dr Vicky Eames• Pharmacist - Dr Diane Hornsby• Radiographer - Andrea Herbert• Occupational Therapy - Helen Carey• Social Worker - Judith Blair & Michaela Adams

Are YOU On The Ball About Your Future...?Careers Information Evening is Just the Job!


Students in Year 12 and 13 had the opportunity to take part in a five-hour Urban Plan Workshop Event, which took place over two consecutive Wednesday afternoons earlier this term.

This event was a great opportunity for anyone interested in a future career in Architecture, Planning, Finance, Marketing, or Environmental Management, as well as providing useful material for students of Geography (e.g. Rebranding Urban Areas) and Business Studies (e.g. Budgeting, Costs and Investment Decisions).

Students were able to work as members of a property development company to create and present a tender proposal for redeveloping a city centre site. A team of

facilitators and industry experts were on hand to help students understand the many complex factors, often in tension with one another, which shaped their creative and financial response to the tender brief.

The event culminated with each of the four student teams giving a formal presentation to a panel of five industry professionals. After a closely fought contest the winning team was declared as BCD Development, who go on to enjoy a special prize-visit to a site of great architectural interest in London…further details to follow!Here’s what our students thought of the experience: -

Mountain Designs: Charlie Griffiths, Sam Moore, Emma Duthie, Erin Salisbury

“We really enjoyed our time working in the urban project; it went quite quickly and the end result was definitely worth all of our time. We learned to communicate and work in a team, and the project itself was challenging but fun.”

Team Name: Team ConceptTeam Members: Ben Moody; Guy Frickel

“Despite having a last-minute reduction in our team-membership we were really pleased with how our presentation went. It was the lack of open space in our final proposals that went against us, even though we were able to propose a high level of profit”

Above and Beyond Solutions: Vicki Sweeney, Angharad Rees-Hughes, Daniel Hamp, Tom Watkins“Overall, the opportunity has been an insight into how such projects work and the processes involved. Our group thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and have gained knowledge on how the industry works. It has given us valuable experience that we can then use to further decide our career choice.”

BCD Development: Daniel Walker, Cameron Davies, Jack Carey and Billy Cossins

“We took part in Urban Plan which was a property development project where we were given an area of a town, Ellham, which we had to redevelop based on council and residents requirements. We all thoroughly enjoyed this process and eventually came out as WINNERS! We are all very interested in property development and we could all see it as being a career path for the future.”

Workshop Event

(left) The Winning Team: BCD Development: Daniel Walker, Cameron Davies, Jack Carey and Billy Cossins(below left) Emma Duthie from Mountain Designs(below middle) The Judging Panel: Urban Plan Professionals; James Wilson, Janet Tate-Smith, Andrew Pannell, Melanie Lamb, and Adam Davies(below right) Team Concept in Action: Ben Moody and Guy Frickel

Sixth Form Students Get a Taste of Town Planning

Urban Land Institute Workshop Event Students in Year 12 and 13 had the opportunity to take part in a five-hour Urban Plan Workshop Event, which took place over two consecutive Wednesday afternoons earlier this term.

This event was a great opportunity for anyone interested in a future career in Architecture, Planning, Finance, Marketing, or Environmental Management, as well as providing useful material for students of Geography (e.g. Rebranding Urban Areas) and Business Studies (e.g. Budgeting, Costs and Investment Decisions).

Students were able to work as members of a property development company to create and present a tender proposal for redeveloping a city centre site. A team of facilitators and industry experts were on hand to help students understand the many complex factors, often in tension with one another, which shaped their creative and financial response to the tender brief.

The event culminated with each of the four student teams giving a formal presentation to a panel of five industry professionals. After a closely fought contest the winning team was declared as BCD Development, who go on to enjoy a special prize-visit to a site of great architectural interest in London…further details to follow!

Here’s what our students thought of the experience: -

Urban Land Institute


During Year 13 Travel and Tourism students study Event Management and therefore need to act as a team, putting their own unique ideas together in order to create an event. Throughout the process, students must demonstrate determination, teamwork, communication and organisation skills to ensure the event runs smoothly and aims are met. At the beginning of the academic year, each student created their own event and prepared a presentation to deliver to the rest of the group, including an action plan, a production schedule, itinerary, a vision board (initial idea), aims and objectives. The event had to be feasible, make a profit, raise awareness and allow participants involved to have fun and enjoy the day. All aims were met as we raised funds within the Sixth Form by having a pyjama day, all students paying a £1 donation. We collected the money at the end of our assembly, and collecting a staggering £171.00, which covered all costs including our ingredients for the cakes and our food for the activities. We also had sufficient money to donate to both our chosen charity, Food for the Poor (FFTP) and our Sixth Form charity, Teenage Cancer Research.

Once we decided on the global Bake a Cake Day, we emailed Mr Harker about the possibility of doing an event with a year group at Christleton Primary School. We created our business plan, and agreed our aims and desired outcomes for the event. Our aims were to promote Travel and Tourism as a subject, as well as raise money from our pyjama day for the charity, Food for the Poor. We each had our own individual role in organising the event for the children. Teamwork is incredibly important when planning an event and we took part in a team building exercise given to us by Mr Francis, which helped us identify the roles best suited to us. We built our itinerary making sure that we carefully planned the event to allow sufficient time to make the cakes, clean up, let the cakes cool before decorating, and for the children to taste the food. At the start of the day, Owen Mackin and Joe Wells went to our school gates to greet the children from Christleton Primary School. Our team leader, Chelsea Hallal, delivered a presentation to let the children know what they would be doing whilst at the High School.

World Food Day Bake - Off!Sixth Form Travel & Tourism Students develop Event Management Employability Skills on World Food Day


Once in the cooking room, we demonstrated each stage of the cake making process. When the children had finished spooning their mixture into their cupcake cases, their ‘adult helper’ put the trays of cakes in the oven. As their cakes were in the oven, Alex Robinson and Georgia Barlow delivered another presentation, whilst Owen Mackin and Tegan Kenton served the food. The remaining team members cleaned the cooking room and made ready for the children to decorate their cakes. The messiest process of the day was decorating the cakes. We made butter icing with the children, added food colouring, which managed to get

on at least one item of clothing of everybody present. It was near

impossible to put the icing in the bags and pipe it onto the cakes. A simple task for most, but when you are trying to do it with four different children all wanting as much icing

on their cake as is humanly possible, things start to get messy.

At one point there was more icing

coming from the top of the piping bag than onto the cakes.

Continues overleaf...

World Food Day Bake - Off!Sixth Form Travel & Tourism Students develop Event Management Employability Skills on World Food Day


After icing, the children added their toppings, which consisted of marshmallows, sprinkles, chocolate buttons and other such decorations. It seemed they wanted to make the biggest toppings possible, failing to remember that they had to fit their cakes into cake tins to take home. As the children left with their cake tins, we handed them questionnaires to complete and give feedback on their day, so we could establish whether they had enjoyed their time at our school.

Overall, we were happy with how the event fell into place. The team stuck closely to the planned itinerary, for example, Joe and Owen were at the gates at 12:10 pm ready and waiting for the children to arrive. The aims of the Bake a Cake Day was to give the children a fun day whilst also educating them about Travel and Tourism as a subject and helping them understand what world food day is. We were able to raise their awareness of and donate to the charity, Food for the Poor. Many thanks to everyone who helped on the day and in particular Mrs Kelly and Mrs Williams. We would also like to thank the Christleton Primary School teachers and students for being so enthusiastic and well behaved. Georgia Barlow, Hollie Carter, Chelsea Hallal, Tiegan Kenton, Owen Mackin, Alex Robinson & Joseph Wells.Year 13 Travel & Tourism Students

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On a cold, bitter, bleak, frosty afternoon, the once mighty Year 13 Football team met the up and coming Year 12 side at the 4G arena for the Cook Cup.

Managed by the duo of Ben Moody and Dave Lindsay, the Upper-Sixth came into the match with immense confidence, despite the lack of training sessions that their Year 12 counterparts had managed to fit into their routine. The game of all games began after a team talk for both sides by Mr ‘Titch’ McIntyre encouraging a clean, fair game.

The bout then began between these two footballing outfits, with the greatest of rivalries. The Upper-Sixth (as is traditional) kicked off towards the ‘English Department End’ and started the contest with encouraging intensity. Efforts from the stronger, more athletic, better-prepared older side cannoned at the Lower-Sixth goal with little resistance from the opposing defence apart from the goalkeeper.

Surely, the Upper-Sixth would score first. No. Sometimes extreme dominance doesn’t always pay off. One goal quickly became two for the fortunate younger opposition and they trotted off at half-time with what can only be said as a fluky 2-0 lead. The second-half then commenced with Upper-Sixth showing the same high

magnitude of performance they had in the first half, just missing that final touch that would put the ball over the Lower-Sixth goal line.

More shots cannoned at the Lower-Sixth goal. To no avail. 5 minutes to go and the game fell apart for the older, far unluckier, better footballing side. Two goals became three, three became four and four ultimately became five, the whistle blew. 5-0! The game finished 5-0. How? We still have no idea to this day.

Dan ‘Utility Player’ Hamp, Matt ‘Midfield Enforcer’ Trafford & Ben ‘Manager’ Moody.

(Year 13 – obviously!)

In memory of Tristan Cook, the

game was played in good spirits

with both teams showing a great

level of respect for themselves,

the opposition, and the referee.

Good luck to Year 12 next year.

Cook Cup 2015Cook Cup 2015


Year 12 Taster Day

On a sunny day in late June 2015, the prospective Year 12 students were invited to sample a day as a

Sixth Form student. After an introductory session in the Hall, each student attended lessons in their chosen subjects, had a session on Study Skills for Sixth Formers and experienced the freedoms of the Study Period.

They were also given subject related Summer projects to prepare them for their A level studies.

“I found the taster day gave me a really good idea of what my subjects would be like.”

Billy Walsh

Sixth Form is more

independent than other years; it is a change in the way

you work.Matthew Goodwin

Freedom to go to the

shop at lunchtime is great! And teachers

treat you differently because everyone in the class really wants

to be there.Anon You need

to be way more prepared and

organised for everything than you are now to go

to the Sixth Form!Tom Mills & Joe Clark

Sixth Form life is much more relaxed

but much more stressful at the same time. The study

periods at first feel like an hour to do nothing but that soon stops when you realise how much work you need to do

compared to at GCSE.Josh Poyner

I came to Christleton from another

school where I was considered a badly behaved student. I have

come with a new state of mind and I wanted a fresh start. The school has

welcomed me very well and I enjoy going to Sixth Form here. It’s a big difference from my previous school: the teachers

offer great help with your work and the students have been very

welcoming to newcomers. I am very grateful for this.

Will Stokes

The transition from Year 11 and GCSEs to A level study in the Sixth Form is one that we try to help students negotiate as smoothly as possible. The step-up in the pace, depth and challenge in learning; the necessity to be able to learn and work more independently; the ability to manage and organise both work materials and study time coupled with the increased distractions and pressures from part time paid employment or social activities. These are all factors that students manage on their journey to adulthood.

We manage the process through a taster day in June 2015, a teambuilding induction day at Chester University and ongoing information, advice, support and guidance during Year 11 and throughout the Sixth Form. Making the transition from another school presents its own challenge for students but also provides opportunities for a fresh start or to try new subjects: nearly 25% of Year 12 students did not take their GCSEs at Christleton.

Life in the Making the

Transition from

GCSE to Sixth Form

6th

form6th

form


Christleton gave me a warm

welcome! Everyone was very friendly and all the

teachers made sure I was settling in. Christleton was my first choice by a long way because of its amazing

results, and my first experiences on the open evening and the taster day. I think Christleton is like a big community that works extremely well to welcome and

accept new people.Angharad Rees-Hughes

I prefer A-levels to GCSEs

and I like the subjects I picked. The teachers and facilities are good and the

students are friendly.Tom Reynoldson

Since being at Christleton I’ve

found it really easy to make new friends as everyone was very welcoming. I like how the teachers support you yet give you the freedom to make your own decisions. I enjoy how the students get treated like adults

but are still disciplined.Imogen Szerdy

Year 12 Induction Day @ Chester UniversityAs part of getting to know and making friends with the new people that joined our Sixth Form, the whole of Year 12 went to Chester University for a Teambuilding day. The main focus of the day was not just to get to know people, but to make us aware of university and how useful it is for your future. It was also to change negative perceptions on higher education, about financial matters and the

matter of applying and getting in.

One of the first things we did was a relay race to make us aware of the sheer number of courses available at Chester University. In fact our team won! After a quick break we saw some of the campus, as we moved to the other side for a student finance session. This was a simpler and more fun way of representing how student finance works. We had to handle our money, manage our time and complete projects along with working. Although it was not too realistic, it did show students that when going to university you don’t have to worry about money issues because of the many student loans and bursaries available to us.

After a quick lunch, we attended a fun session of team building, which included building the highest tower out of paper straws, moving peas with chopsticks, and rearranging ourselves in height, age, or alphabetical order on one single line, which we couldn’t step out of.

This activity definitely brought us closer to our friends… even on a literal level!

Lastly, which personally was the best part of the day, we watched a drama performance aimed at young adults of our age, who are not sure about their future. It was mainly to persuade us to choose university as our pathway for the future and to encourage students that university isn’t as scary as it seems. In fact, it has many positive aspects and is an opportunity to meet many new people, try new things along with leaving home, socialising, and becoming an independent person ready for life.

Overall, the day was enjoyable, it gave me a better insight into university life, and how going there could make a real difference to your life!

Dominika Sadczuk


On Thursday, 15th October 2015, Christleton High School received a special visit from Luke Wright, a performance poet from Essex with influences including John Cooper Clarke. Luke was in town to perform at the Chester Literature Festival this year, amongst many other festivals and gigs.

Luke’s poems are outrageously funny and written to be performed live. The A Level English students had the pleasure of watching Luke perform an hour long set in the school Lecture Theatre:“I was really surprised by Luke’s performance,” said Holly Astle. “I was not alone in thinking that watching someone read poems was going to drag a little but it was nothing like I expected. There were tears of laughter and a real lively vibe throughout the Lecture Theatre. Luke’s poems were not only relevant and deep but absolutely hilarious. For me, and many of my class, Luke reinvented the stereotype for poetry and I have since been obsessed with his poetry. My favourite was ‘Houses that used to be Boozers’, I even bought his book!”

A few weeks prior to Luke’s visit Miss Cowley and Miss Evans hosted a poetry competition. Students had to write a poem on the theme of ‘Light’ as this was the theme for National Poetry Day 2015. The top 20 students were invited to attend Luke’s poetry workshop in the afternoon.

“Luke began with a short performance of his poems ‘The Toll’ and ‘The Ballad of Fat Josh’, amongst others,” said Joe Bramall who took photographs during Luke’s visit. “Then students were given the task of writing a poem that was completely alliteration and Luke helped us by performing a poem he had written in this style. We came up with some ridiculous poems and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Our second task was to write our own versions of ‘Are You the Business’ by John Cooper Clarke. This was my favourite part of the workshop.”

Luke, who does numerous school visits across the country, credited the students involved in the workshop for their creativity. He even described the Christleton workshop members as “the best group of students I’ve worked with all year”.

Well done to all involved!

Cara Evans, Holly Astle & Joe Bramall

Luke Wr ight’s Poetry Party!



Before the afternoon poetry workshop at Christleton High School, Luke Wright sat down to record a podcast interview with radio personality Joe Hollywood for Wirral Radio.

Joe: This morning you took an hour class with a group of Sixth Formers, roughly aged 16 -18 years old. Explain what you were doing with them and what do you normally do as a poet?Luke: This morning I gave a performance of my poetry to a Sixth Form group, I don’t tend to work with Sixth Formers, it tends to be Year 10 and 11 students who I perform to – this helps the students understand a bit more about poetry before they sit their exams. A small part of what I do, I perform my poems to others as well as running creative writing workshops to try and enthuse people about poetry. I spend most of my days writing new material too! Joe: What is your style/genre of poetry then?Luke: My poetry tends to be humorous. Not everything though, I like to show range in my poetry so you can make people laugh and make people cry! I also tell a lot of stories in my work, not forgetting constructive stuff too! Writing about characters etc. I don’t actually have any confessions to tell myself.

Joe: What inspires you to write these poems?Luke: We all experience inspiration, every day. Artists take that experience and turn it into content, in my case it is poems.

Joe: For 14 – 16 year olds across the UK at the minute, poetry is overtaken

by games and other hobbies.What would you say to young people today to help them discover and like poetry?Luke: I think saying you don’t like poetry is like saying you don’t like music. Poetry is massive; chances are you haven’t come across the right poet. For me, poetry in an English lesson – it was alright. But it was a school thing. It wasn’t until I discovered poets like John Cooper Clarke and Martin Newell when I was 16…they were writing poems that meant something to me, poems about being beaten up outside a chippy on a Friday night, millions miles away from the stuff I was studying at school. They just made sense to me – they were funny. That’s why I stressed you’ve got to find the right poems for you. There are loads of spoken words being written by really interesting young writers like Hollie McNish, Kate Tempest. You know, young people writing about issues and topics that are interesting to young people, so I’d get on YouTube and have a look. I mean you don’t have to like poetry, just wait until it comes along and you see something you like. Joe: How did you turn poetry into a career and how did you start to publish all your content?Luke: Publishing came much much later for me, it was about taking my words on stage and performing. I started doing open mic nights and then people started to ask me to do sets, and it just built from there. The main thing I did

that turned into a career was the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. That made a big difference because then you get a chance to have your work critically reviewed and loads of programmers from other venues and countries go to them and check stuff out – and if you go up there with a good show and get good reviews, get people interested it’s a good start. You can then start getting paid for your work. Joe: Last question Luke, where can we find some of your content?Luke: I’ve got lots of stuff online, go to www.lukewright.co.uk – there’s loads of poems and stuff there!

You can listen to this interview, Saturday 19th December, on

92.1FM- DAB DIGITAL RADIO- ONLINE (www.wirralradio.co.uk)

or the Wirral Radio App

Follow us on Twitter:

@WirralRadio921#WeAreWirral

@JosefHollywood




Year 12 and 13 art students were all given the opportunity to spend a weekend at the Conway Centre in

Anglesey to study

art.Eight other schools and colleges from across Cheshire also attended and so we were working with students that we had never met before. Artists and teachers led the workshops and we could decide which we would like to do. Architectural two-point perspective drawing,

expressive painting, collagraph printing and

mark-making were some of the workshops on offer.

Although tiring, we all had a fantastic time and came away inspired with a whole mini project that we can enter as part of our A Level as well as learning skills that we can incorporate into our practice as art students.

CreativeConway


This is what we thought of it:

“I had a really good time at Conway, what made it better was how the artists we worked with let us do art work at our own pace so there was no pressure, so we could just relax and enjoy it. I learnt so many new skills that I will definitely be using back in school! I’m glad I pushed myself to do work I never thought I would like. 10/10!” Georgina Rimmer

“My favourite thing about this weekend was being taught new skills by different artists as it adds a new depth to art that I haven’t experienced before. I will use these techniques throughout my current project and I know that what I have learnt and experienced will help me greatly in the future” Becky Allen

“One of the many things that I loved about this weekend was the amount of new techniques I learnt that I will continue to use throughout my life as an artist. Being able to push myself out of my comfort zone, I felt really helped me this weekend!” Hannah Goodwin

“The artists were really great and allowed you to go at your own pace and helped before, during and after working. We learnt new techniques that I will be able to use again. I have never appreciated architecture more than I do now!” Hannah Whitlock

“The skills I learnt this weekend are skills that I can’t wait to pursue in the future. The artists were so enthusiastic, inspiring and really helped my understanding of perspective and architecture.” Jamilla Spauls

“I’m really glad that I went on the Conway Art Trip. It was really interesting and useful to work with new students, teachers, techniques and materials. I also liked working with people who are older than me because I felt that this really pushed me to produce more challenging work. The architectural style perspective drawings on a stained background with tints of colour which we created were something I have been wanting to learn for a while.” Polly Bowerman

“Having been to Conway before for the GCSE Art Trip, I had some knowledge of what was going to happen this weekend; however, it was completely different this time. I was given the freedom to work in my own style rather than being told what to do, but at the same time I was pushed out of my comfort zone due to being taught by an artist who had a completely different artistic style to me. Yet again I learnt new techniques that I will apply to my work back at school. Conway has done it again!” Harriet Keogh


During the summer holidays, while most of you were relaxing, enjoying the break and good weather, 50 of our new Year 7 students were in school for a whole week starting on Monday, 27th June 2015, taking part in the Summer Activities Week. Under the supervision of Mr Horrocks, Miss Cross and Mr Hesketh, our new students were part of the new Summer Activities Week, which exposed everyone to new activities and challenges.

Each activity tested and developed different skills and required teamwork, collaboration and resilience. At the start of each day, we had 50 energetic young people and at home time, there were some very tired, weary, but happy students going home for some well-earned rest!

One of the activities was a 70 feet long assault course bouncy castle. Students were able to race against each other and (with the staff being Physical Education teachers) times were kept! There were some excellent races, with some skulduggery on the climbing walls with students pulling each other down. But the referee (Miss Cross) “did not see” this! The most acrobatic jumps on the near vertical slide came from Sarah Hooper and Felix McLaughlin, with the best times recorded by Max Grace and Eve Tingey.

Zorb Football was one of the most popular activities with our students. Each person had the opportunity to roll, jump, and bounce around in a big ball. On several occasions some students were upside down and couldn’t get back up, which made Mr Hesketh giggle quite a lot! This activity gave students the opportunity to run at each other full speed and not get hurt…so you can imagine what was happening most of the time. Although

the activity is called Zorb “Football”, we never saw a football come out! The students had a great time and I think next year we will just

call it “Zorb”!

During the first two days, the students were subject to a series of “team-building”activities, which encouraged all to work

together and get to know each other. Don’t forget, this was one of their first times in school together – so this was not

easy!

One of the challenges was the “Spider’s Web”. In teams, students had to work out a way to get all of their team

through the web without touching it (and disturbing the huge spider, which is never a good idea!). At first,

every team failed and the spider got them. But with careful thinking and communication, each team

developed their own strategy to succeed. The superstar in this event was Amber

Bowerman. She stood to the front of her team and

without hesitation led and told

them what to do – a future

leader we have there! (By the way, for those who

are worried – there is not really a spider!).

Other challenges included the Amazon

Desert Challenge, Ski Challenge, and the Ball and the Gutter Challenge.

Once again, students were put in difficult situations and had to find

a way to work together and solve the challenge. As a group, they

showed excellent skills to work out each scenario and in the

process got to know each other really well.

Mr Hesketh’s favourite activity was Den Building.

In teams, the students had to make a shelter out of

materials given to them (string, tape, plastic

sheets and sticks), which would defend

against wet weather. Now as the weather

was warm and sunny, the staff

decided to use very strong

water guns to check if the

dens were waterproof.

Fun in

the sun

during Summer Activities Week!

Fun in

the sun



Each team had 30 minutes to build their den and get in…during this time the staff were loading their water guns and looking for signs of weakness!

Some of the dens were well built and impenetrable at first...until Mr Hesketh decided that was no fun, and lifted up the dens to ensure everyone got soaked!

Once everyone’s den had been tested (and everyone was wet), an unofficial water fight broke out where the students had their revenge and drenched all the staff!

A popular activity during the week was Manhunt. To start with all students used camouflage paint to paint their faces. Rambo himself would have been impressed with some of the painting skills! Then the group was split into teams. Teams were then required to hide in the school grounds…this was the peak of summer and the trees and vegetation were in full bloom, which made some people very hard to find! The hunters had to find all of the other team. Archie Pytches and Kieran Hooper demonstrated great hiding skills with Ambre Richards and Morgan Reay proving to be the best hunters.

One activity, which really got everyone thinking, was the Egg Drop.

Teams were

given 3 pieces

of paper, a metre of string,

sellotape and an egg. The egg was

to be dropped out of the Maths window

(very high) and the object was to keep the

egg intact. Teams worked furiously hard to give their

egg the best possible chance – including Mr Hesketh and

Miss Cross who spent a long time perfecting their egg-saving device.

Many teams succeeded and many did not (including Mr Hesketh and Miss Cross)

– but all enjoyed the activity.

With the leftover eggs, students paired up and threw the eggs to each other (outside, not in the

Maths room Mrs Pitchford!). The idea was to see how far you can throw and catch the egg before it

breaks. Tanya Norwood was particularly good at this! In the last egg challenge, Mr Horrocks offered himself as a

target – knowing that with a large distance, no one would hit him with an egg. Unfortunately for him, he did not realise

what a good aim the new Year 7s are and went home covered in egg!

The week closed off with Circus Skills, with an expert coming in to show our students how to perform some skills. There was the

tightrope, plate spinning, unicycle and many more activities. Everyone tried everything, had a fantastic time, and it was a

great way to finish the week.

There were plenty more activities during the week including several sports and making a chair out of balloons. The students

thoroughly enjoyed each day, so much so that Shae Woodard-Lord delayed his holiday for three days to enjoy the whole

week – he was only supposed to come for two days!

The week was a great success – our new students made many new friends, learnt about the school,

developed relationships with staff, and most importantly had an amazing time!

We will be running another week for our new Year 7 students (current Year

6) next summer and also, based on the feedback and success of last

summer’s activity week, we will be running a week for the

Year 7s to come back and have some more fun.

Keep your eyes peeled for

details!

Fun in

the sun


Fun in

the sun



After school on a Wednesday, all of the Art Hot Scholars came together to put up some artwork in the herb gardens. The artwork had previously been created by a mixture of artists from Years 7 to 10.

We used many different objects from the Art department in order to create banners on bamboo. First, we decided on the colour scheme of blue and purple, and then we all created our own squares; the result was interesting mixed media pieces, which were brought together to create a long banner.

We worked with different material such as printed sea shells onto calico, painted bottle tops, buttons, hessian, tissue paper and we sowed into the pieces too. The artwork is now spread all around the herb gardens and looks great. It was great to take part in both creating and installing the art.

Creating this artwork taught me lots of new artistic techniques.

Jess Jones

Art Alfresco


engines...Start your

Alex Enston (9L1) has had a dream start to his motor racing career. Although too young to race in the Junior Rotax series until February 2016, he is already within 0.03 of a second off the lap record set in 2009 for this category at the Hooton Park Circuit, Ellesmere Port.

This summer Alex spent a week testing at the prestigious Genk racetrack in Belgium. Formula One stars Jenson Button and Max Verstappen have both raced karts at this circuit.

As soon as Alex is 14, he has been invited to test-drive a Jedi single seater racing car at Brands Hatch. These cars are capable of speeds in excess of 150 mph and can reach 0-60 mph in 3 seconds.

Sports SectionSports

Section


The Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 teams competed in the Tarporley Festival; special mention must go to the Year 7s who were undefeated and show real potential. They could match the success of the Year 10 team who have dominated District Rugby since they were in Year 7.

In other matches and competitions, the Years 9 and 8 teams unfortunately failed to progress into round 3 in the Cheshire Vase, the Year 9s narrowly losing by 4 points to The Grange.

The Year 10 team were the first ever Rugby team to be entered into the Natwest National Cup, they only just lost to Caldy by 14 points. The Christleton team were 12 – 0 down for most of the match

and fought their way back to 12 -12 but in the final five minutes, loss of concentration allowed Caldy to score two tries to seal the match.

However, there were clear signs they were starting to panic as Christleton dominated most of the second half. Tom Roebuck was the clear Man of the Match, who led his team well and showed excellent commitment and determination throughout the game.

The Sixth Form team played Reaseheath College in their first game; Christleton dominated the first half with 4 tries and 1 conversion, Matt Trafford providing 3 of them, and played exceptionally well. In the second half it was Reaseheath who dominated but the Christleton defence were solid and only allowed the opposition to score once. Matt Liversage was fantastic in both attack and defence, enough to gain him Man of the Match.

Finally, well done to 3 of our Year 10

players who made the Cheshire West squad, Jac Goodall, Tom Roebuck, and Jason Taylor and our Year 9, Dylan Bevan-Jones, who have all been training for a few months and will be involved in the Cheshire Tri tournament against Central Cheshire and Cheshire East. Good Luck!

Well done to all the teams and players that have represented the school this season, keep up the good work!

Finally, a huge thank you must go to Matt Liversage and Alex Coker who have been coaching the younger age groups, the students are working hard and performing well.

Mr Barton

School RugbyReviewSchool RugbyReview

It has been a huge start to the season so far with over 20 fixtures being completed between Years 7 to Sixth Form.


Congratulations to our Year 9 Girls Basketball team – Chester and District Champions!On Thursday, 19th November 2015, ten of our Year 9 girls travelled to Catholic High School for the Chester and District Girls Basketball Championship. With a few lunch time practices under the belt, Mr Horrocks was confident that Christleton would do well. As it turned out, Christleton dominated all opposition and won the tournament undefeated. The starting unit of Laura Roberts, Lucy Peterson, Anastasia Dunkerley, Hannah Thorley, and Gemma Hemens were unstoppable.

Defensively every school struggled to even get a shot off against these five players. When Christleton had the ball, fast break after fast break was run in, and easy points were scored. The second unit of Xsara Challinor, Emily Twigg, Ruth Campbell, Hannah Piercy and Sophie Lee came on and the pressure did not let up. The whole team combined extremely well for a master class in how to play Basketball.

Upon receiving the gold medals, Mr Green, the tournament organiser, praised the whole team and pointed out Laura Roberts as an outstanding player.

Well done to all girls – our first Basketball Championship this year!

Every Friday, after school, 3.30 pm - 5.00 pm, James Faint a professional Basketball coach with the Cheshire Phoenix is coaching Basketball in the Sports Hall. Anyone can turn up (you don’t need to be on the Basketball teams) and play. The sessions are fun and for all age groups – we currently have Year 7s up to Sixth Formers in attendance. Interested? See you on Fridays!

Cross Country County SuccessOn a very wet and muddy Saturday in a race of 95 runners from several counties, Tristan MacFarlane came in 46th, Jac Goodall 52nd and David Dentith 57th. David was especially pleased as it was his first time running for Cheshire, off the back of his good performances this season. Also at the event representing Cheshire, Isaac Tait (Year 7) who finished 6th.

Johnny Goodall, their team manager was really pleased with their performances. He believed that if these boys were running for

any other county

they would all be in the top 6 county runners. However, the competition for places is really tough in Cheshire and he took enough runners for 2 squads on Saturday.

These are fantastic results and the boys are showing great determination and motivation to compete at this level in wintery conditions.

Thank you to parents cheering and supporting at events. We are hoping to report more great performances in the next edition.

Mrs Stott

Cross Country County Success

Cheshire Phoenix – Basketball CoachingCheshire Phoenix – Basketball Coaching


The first round of

the English schools

Cross-country

Championship

took place on the

6th October 2015.

The Junior Boys competed strongly

with a team including: Isaac Tait,

Ethan Butler, Dylan Moore, Owen

Humber and Sam Turner. Isaac and

Ethan set the standard placing in

4th and 7th. Dylan came in 19th

followed by Owen in 22nd, and

Sam in 55th out of 65 runners. They

made it through to the Regional

Round!

The Junior Girls team set out as

a strong contender for the Junior

Girls competition, consisting of:

Jemma Moulton, Jessica Graham,

Holly Lee, Rebecca Davies, Hatty

Bird and Tamsin O’Keefe. Tamsin

was flying (as usual), finishing in an

incredible 2nd place! Jessica came

in behind in 17th, Holly in 28th,

Rebecca in 55th, Hatty and Jemma

in 57th and 58th respectively.

Sadly, the Inter Girls only had 3

runners so they could not go any

further, but still ran strongly all

coming in the top 46.

The Inter Boys had high

expectations for the competition,

as 2 members of the team I was

in last year reached the National

Finals and came 5th in the country:

Jac Goodall and Joe Powell. They

were hoping for a repeat of last

year and to reach the Finals again.

This time there was Jac, Joe, Matty

McDonnell, George Tingey, David

Dentith (last year’s Finals team) and

Tristan McFarlane (also last year’s

Finals team).

Tristan set the standard for the

team, coming home in 4th position,

25 seconds behind came Jac

in 5th, then David in 16th, Matty

McDonnell in 22nd, and George

Tingey in 44th. Great results meant

the team were through to the

second round!

On Saturday, 7th November 2015,

the Junior Boys gave a good

performance but not enough to

clench a place in the Finals. There

was another amazing performance

by the Inter Boys team finishing

2nd in the region and securing their

place in the Finals, on Saturday, 5th

December 2015, in Bedford. Look

out in the next edition of The Swan

to see how they did.

Well done everyone and Go Team

Inters!!

Adam Carlile

Year 11

Coach

ESAA Schools Cross

Country Cup

ESAA Schools Cross

Country Cup


On Monday, 12th October 2015, girls from Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 travelled with racquets in their hands to Upton High School to compete in the Chester and District Badminton Championships. Upon arrival, two girls who are the England National Schools Champions (at Under 18) greeted us. They busily chatted away telling us about some of the players at the tournament playing at high levels and some representing Cheshire in Badminton. Our girls took this in their stride and proceeded to warm up intensely readying themselves for a tough tournament ahead.

Representing the Years 10 and 11 team were Molly Ellis, Isla Beech, Molly Dempsey, Annalea Moulton and Annabel Page, with the Years 8 and 9 team comprising Xsara Challinor, Laura Roberts, Grace Beesley, Lucy Peterson, and Sophie Lee. The tournament had some excellent Badminton players, but somehow both Christleton teams managed to battle out each game, pushing each school to its limits.

The format of the competition made it difficult to know who had won or lost each game and each school was unsure of the results. After the last match had been played, all the schools waited patiently (and nervously) to find out who had won. In the Years 10 and 11 tournament Christleton finished in a very respectable 3rd place – just missing out on the silver medal (the results revealed there was just one point in it). However, our Years 8 and 9 team ended up in 1st place, collecting the gold medals and booking themselves into the next round – which is the Cheshire Championships!

All girls played superbly, with outstanding sportsmanship and were a credit to the school. Well done all!

Girls BadmintonGirls Badminton

Table Tennis CoachingProfessional Table Tennis CoachingEvery Thursday after school Aaron Beech, who is a professional Table Tennis coach, is running coaching sessions in the Dance Studio. The project is part funded by Everton Football club and is running all year. If you want to play Table Tennis, want to learn some skills or just have an interest – come and play! Sessions start at 3.30 pm and finish at 4.30 pm.

Professional


It has been a

busy term for the football teams at Christleton with a number of games played since September.

Our Year 7s started their season with a victory in a friendly

over Abbeygate College. Will Lloyd scored a hat

trick with Ryan Evans impressing at the other end in goal.

Unfortunately, the lads were eliminated in the

First Round of the England Schools Cup. A strong St.

Margaret’s side from Liverpool edging a fantastic game 3-2.

Mikey Stamper’s free kick and Ed Stockton’s performance in goal were particular highlights.

Our Year 8s also fell at the first hurdle, again at a school in Liverpool. The team lost 2-1 away at Maricourt Catholic School but have enjoyed some success in the County Cup. On a windy afternoon, a 2-0 win at Chester Catholic High School sent Christleton into the next round. Alex Bayley lobbing the goalkeeper from nearly 50 yards was the stand out moment from the game. The next round sees another tough game against Neston High School.

Again, it was a school from Liverpool that proved too much for our Year 9s. St Francis Xavier’s College eliminated a depleted team from the England Schools Open Cup. Defeat away at St. Helens in the ESFA Cup means that the boys will look forward to their Chester and District Cup fixtures after Christmas were it is hoped

they will have a bit more luck.Year 10 have had an outstanding start to the season. Victory over Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College propelled them into the next round of the ESFA Open Cup. Ben Clark scored twice aided by goals from Tom Roebuck and Phil Hopkins in a 4-3 victory.

They have enjoyed similar good fortune in the England Schools Cup. A comfortable victory over The Heath School from Runcorn was gained in the opening round, which was followed by a battling display away at Hillside High School with Phil Hopkins impressing as well as Owen Wheeler in midfield.

Year 11 have had a steady start to the season. The defence of the Cheshire Cup has begun well with a 3-0 victory over Upton High School on a wet night on the All Weather Pitch. Unfortunately, the

FootballFootball


run in the ESFA Open Cup was over in early November, falling to a 1-0 defeat away at St. Francis Xavier’s College after a battling performance clinched a 5-3 victory away at Cansfield High School in the opening round.

Victories over Upton High School and Calday Grange Grammar School have meant progression in the ESFA Cup and at the time of writing a tie away at Cardinal Heenan Roman Catholic High School or St. Francis Xavier’s College in the next round awaits.The Sixth Form have seen matches limited but are awaiting a tie at St. Chad’s High School in the County Cup and travel to Abbeygate College in the Chester and District

Cup.The Girls teams have enjoyed an outstanding start to the season! The Under 13 Girls are into Round 4 of the ESFA Cup after victories over Alsop High School and Sale Grammar School in previous rounds. Hannah Snape has been the star performer. The girls are also progressing in the Cheshire Cup.

Our Under 14 girls progressed in the Cheshire Cup with a victory over Chester Catholic High School and our Under 15 girls are moving along nicely in the ESFA Cup having eliminated Helsby High School 1-0 in a tight game.

We have seen five of our Under 14s selected for the Chester Schools FA Under 14s squad. Congratulations to Ben Lawrence, Matt Rain, Ted Williams, Dan Malone and Will Goodwin. Similarly, we have had four students selected for the Chester Schools FA Under 15s squad. Congratulations to Ben Gale, Ben Clark, Tom Roebuck, and Phil Hopkins.

It has been a very busy term for football at Christleton, training and practice sessions are well attended, and the new term after Christmas promises to be another exciting one!


Based on the Basketball success of last year, the Basketball Programme has taken a giant leap this year by entering three teams into the North Wales Basketball League.

As it stands, Christleton High School is the only school in the league where we compete on a weekly basis against established Basketball Clubs often pooling the best players from over 10 schools. The age groups entered are Year 7, Years 8 and

9 and Years 10 and 11 – with the intention to enter a Sixth Form team next year. The games are held on Tuesday evenings, with games starting at either 6:00 pm, 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm, which is a huge commitment for our students.

In the Years 10 and 11 age group, the team has played three games winning two and losing one. The first game was against Whitby Basketball Club where we encountered a match against one of our own students; Reece Owens. So, the stakes were high – we couldn’t let Reece and his team win! The game was an excellent display of Basketball skill and tactics and was very close. Tom Wyatt led the team distributing the ball well with Jason Taylor dominating the

defensive rebounding. With only a few minutes to go Christy

Mageean scored a basket to push the school ahead

by 4 points and Whitby never got closer than that. Final score 23-17 to Christleton High School. Our next encounter was a different affair.

The opposition was Celts Caernarfon and as we

walked in, we could see that many players were over 6 feet

tall and most were wearing either a North Wales or Wales International shirt. From the outset, it was clear that this team was very strong and made it very difficult for our boys to score. The final score was 58-10 in favour of the Welsh team. Despite the big score line, Christleton fought until the end and demonstrated resilience in the face of extremely tough opposition. Oli Trollope led the team in spirit (as you would expect if you know Oli!) and showed grit and determination, which kept the team going. Our most recent game was against

Mold Magic. This game was a one-sided affair with our boys playing some outstanding Basketball. Tom Wyatt’s vision enabled him to steal loose passes and he was able to convert to points on the fast break. Cameron Bradley was a beast on the boards – every rebound seemed to be his and he did not let his man get very far without brilliant pressure! Adam Carlile and Matthew Jones had their best games yet, combining well in the guard positions to distribute the ball and push the tempo. The score was 38-10 to Christleton.

The Years 10 and 11s have also started the School Basketball League. The first (and only) game (so far) was against Catholic High School. The game was fast paced, high scoring and extremely tactical. Catholic High School had one outstanding player, who will be pushing for a spot on the England Basketball Team. At first, we found it difficult to contain him as he was able to score easily. Mr Horrocks tasked Tom Wyatt with the

Years 10 and 11

BasketballBasketball


The Year 7

team have played one game so far. Again the opposition was Mold Magic. Leading the team was Jayden Crump who was

aggressive under the hoop and able to score some tough shots.

Benedict Andrews and Thomas Goodwin did an

excellent job bringing the ball up the floor and creating chances to score. Lola Latifa excelled in the shooting guard position and was

unafraid to shoot, which really challenged the

Mold Magic defence. The game was a tight affair, both

teams played well. However, Mold Magic scored one basket towards the end of the game and Christleton were not quite able to make up the difference. The final score was 15-12 in favour of our opposition.

The Basketball Programme is going from strength-to-strength and we are still in our early stages of development. Entering the North Wales League has meant that our students now have regular and tough opposition, which only helps to develop our skills and game play. There is Basketball every Friday after school, which is run by Cheshire Phoenix and anyone can come to play. In addition, practices are held after school, these details can be found in the bulletin each week or by contacting Mr Horrocks. So far our students have shown excellent character and resilience and we look forward to hearing about our games and our successes!

Year 7s

So far, the Years 8 and 9 Team

have only played two games. Our first opposition was Mold Magic.

Christleton started the game nervously (the first ever game

for all our players!) and Mold Magic capitalised scoring a

few uncontested baskets. Mr Horrocks called an early time out to settle the nerves and re-affirm the defensive priorities. Coming out of the

time out Laura Roberts and Jacob Jones led the

team and started to create some holes in the Mold Magic

defence. Jacob Hemens used his speed well and as a consequence was able to score a few points. However, the initial lead by Mold Magic was too difficult to break

and the final score was 20-13. The second game was against Celts Caernarfon and this time Christleton played with confidence. Spencer Moore penetrated the defence well and was able to create some scoring opportunities for his team. Xsara Challinor and Laura Roberts combined well and were able to progress the ball up the floor and provide some scoring opportunities. However, Celts Caernarfon is an organised team with some very good players – and in the end, their quality was too much for our team. Rory Faulkner ended up the top scorer for Christleton with 10 points.

Years 8 and 9

extremely tough job of stopping him. Tom did brilliantly, but it soon was evident that this player was too good for one man. The tactics changed with Mr Horrocks employing a double team tactic and “triangle and two defence”. Both worked with scoring from this player slowing down. Dan Wait

teamed up with Tom, which made a big difference. Christleton closed the gap. The score got to 35-35 with one minute to go. Catholic High School had the ball and a time out. Everyone knew who the ball was going to and who was going to take the final shot! Christleton double teamed this player, but he

was able to create a small amount of space and get off a very tough shot…the ball went in and the game was over. It was a tough loss to take for our boys…one player scored 32 of their 37 points and scored the winner.


Early in September 2015, the Year 8 A, B and C Netball teams went on a residential to Condover Hall.

This has been an annual trip organised by the school for many years having received positive feedback from students after each visit. Over the course of the weekend, the girls took part in a tournament playing against various teams from across England.

The A team won the competition comfortably whilst the B and C teams came 4th and 7th respectively. After the

Netball finished for the day, the girls were given the opportunity to let off some steam by getting involved in the numerous activities the facility had to offer such as laser maze, tunnelling, low and high ropes, and body zorbing.

The girls had a fantastic weekend and we all look forward to next year’s adventure!

Condover HallCondover Hall


Who were they? Mr. Stenhouse

Mr. Lamberton

Mr. Follos

We all wish Nigel a speedy recovery.

Teacher’s PetHere’s the answer -

For those of you who didn’t know, Mr Francis is the

proud owner of Ted, the ‘Children in Need’ Mascot. Like father,

like son!



Documents

Winter 2015 Swan Newsletter